MUMBAI: Indian cricket authorities have suspended the head and driving force behind the money-spinning IPL tournament in a bid to stem an escalating crisis involving tax and match-fixing allegations.
After a week of intense speculation that Indian Premier League boss Lalit Modi faced the axe, the news came late on Sunday, just hours after the final of a tournament he built into a multi-billion-dollar industry.
A statement from the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which owns the IPL, said he had been suspended with immediate effect and been given two weeks to prove his innocence.
"The alleged acts of individual misdemeanours of Lalit K. Modi, chairman IPL and vice president BCCI, have brought a bad name to the administration of cricket and the game itself," said a statement from president Shashank Manohar.
The suspension caused waves around India, with a headline on the Times of India website reading: "Modi all but hanged without trial".
The seeds of Modi's downfall were sown two weeks ago when he revealed the ownership details of a new franchise set to join the glitzy and globally popular IPL in 2011.
In one of his numerous postings on micro-blogging site Twitter, he embarrassed a high-profile member of the government, junior foreign minister Shashi Tharoor, by leaking how his girlfriend had been given a free stake in the new team.
Under pressure from the opposition, which accused Tharoor of misusing his office to secure benefit for himself, the minister was forced to resign, embarrassing the Congress-led government.
Since then, the finance ministry has launched a wide-ranging tax probe into the IPL, the BCCI and the owners of its franchises -- powerful business and Bollywood figures -- and many blame Modi for bringing the tax man to their door.
The investigation has sparked a media frenzy, with daily leaks -- though nothing has been proved so far -- about Modi's unpaid tax liabilities, general corruption and kickbacks and even possible match-fixing.
Result rigging is a particularly dangerous slur on the subcontinent after federal investigators unearthed widespread illegal betting and corruption by Indian bookmakers and some leading players in 2000.
"I have waited for IPL 2010 to conclude in order to respond to the situation as I did not want the event to be disrupted in any manner," added Manoharin his statement.
The 2010 version of the annual tournament finished with a drama-filled final in front of 50,000 fans on Sunday who saw the Chennai Super Kings beat favourites Mumbai Indians in their home city. -- AFP
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