New Delhi: Kings XI Punjab co-owner Ness Wadia being sentenced for drugs possession while on a skiing holiday to Japan could mean trouble for the Indian Premier League team. As per the Operational Rules of the cash-rich league, no team official involved with the league can act in a manner which brings disrepute to the team, the league, the BCCI or the game on or off the field. If guilty, the persons action can even lead to suspension of the team. Citing the manner in which Chennai Super Kings (CSK) had to bear the brunt for the acts of the team principal, a senior BCCI functionary said that KXIP could be in deep trouble.
“The KXIP are unfortunately looking at suspension as a best case scenario and termination as a worst case scenario due to the conviction of an owner in a criminal case of drug possession. “No less than the Lodha panel had suspended the CSK for two years because their team official was accused of betting. In this case we have an owner convicted of drug possession by a criminal court. If he was a state cricket official he would have stood disqualified from holding office automatically. “This also exposes the discriminatory provisions of the new BCCI constitution which is draconian for a state association but doesn’t put any restriction on a franchise official even though IPL performances clearly matter more for selection to the Indian team than Ranji performances,” the functionary told IANS.
