London, June 3 (IANS) Lalit Modi, suspended Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman and commissioner, insists there has been no match-fixing in the three editions of the cash-rich Twenty20 league and that he does not doubt the integrity of the franchise owners and the players.
‘There is absolutely no match-fixing in the IPL and the allegations being floated are just motivated by people to find ways and means of undermining all over the world what we have done,’ he said.
‘The IPL is an extremely competitive tournament. All the owners want to win. All the players want to win. We have zero doubts about their integrity.’
Modi also says he has no regrets about revealing the names of Kochi team stakeholders on the social networking site Twitter, which triggered the downfall of junior government minister Shashi Tharoor and a bitter tussle with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
‘I don’t regret at all what happened or what I sent. As chairman of the IPL I was uncomfortable about something and I was being pushed around and I had no choice but to put it in the public domain,’ Modi was quoted as saying in the Daily Telegraph.
‘I may have rubbed people up the wrong way because of how we operated but we operated in the best interests of the league. We have always worked for the best of cricket and we have successfully done that over the years.’
Modi, in his 24-page reply Tuesday to the Indian board’s second show cause notice, citing England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief Giles Clarke’s allegations, denied that he was plotting to form a rebel Twenty20 league in England.
Modi went on to ask his London solicitors Carter-Ruck to initiate libel proceedings against Clarke for his accusations leading to the show cause notice.
‘I am not the type to give up and walk away,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to go down that path [legal action] until it is necessary to do that but we will take it to the logical conclusion.
‘What Giles Clarke has said and done is absolutely not true and I have done this [legal action] because he has tarnished my name for no reason.’
Synopsis by Stewart Regan, the chief executive of Yorkshire, on the meeting of three county heads with Modi in Delhi in March, led to Clarke’s accusation that a breakaway Twenty20 competition was being planned in England.
‘I was totally shocked and disgusted by how the events were portrayed by him (Clarke),’ said Modi.
‘I was not inclined to have a meeting because I didn’t have the time but I went out of my way to explain the process out of courtesy because they came over, watched our matches and asked for my time.’
Modi pointed out that not only the three counties but also various boards wanted to know how the IPL was conceived and he had shared his views with all.
‘Many boards have come to us and wanted to know what it is all about and we have given them our view on it. That is exactly what we did with these people. What I said to them is that like any franchise owner, whether it is football or basketball, if he has had a good experience he may look at other areas to invest.’
