Apex Court Bans Rajasthan Royals from IPL for two seasons

Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings have been suspended from participating in the IPL tournament for the next two years.  This decision was communicated by a Panel appointed by the Supreme Court of India, which had looked into the corruption scandal enveloping the super rich Indian Premier League over the past few years.

As per Media reports, both teams and their management have been convicted of being party in the illegal betting and match fixing scandal, which was being probed into by the Apex Court Panel.

Royals currently led by Australian Steve Smith, won the inaugural tournament of the IPL in 2008 and is owned by Raj Kundra, who himself has been banned from all cricket related activities for life.  The same verdict stands for CSK Co-owner Gurunath Meiyappan.

Chennai, having been led by MS Dhoni all the while, has been part of four finals of the IPL seasons since 2008 and have won the trophy for two consecutive years, 2010 and 2011.

The three member panel led by former Chief Justice Rajendra Lodha made its binding recommendations today.  Lodha in his address to the media said, “Disrepute has been brought to cricket, the BCCI [Board Of Control For Cricket In India] and the IPL to such an extent that there are doubts abound in the public whether the game is clean or not.”  He further said that though the decision can be challenged, he is sure that it will stand, to protect the integrity of the game of cricket.

Analysts say that this decision comes as a blow to the professional standing of IPL and is bound to affect the revenue and sponsorship scheme of things, whether or not the governing body is able to find replacements to fill the gap.