Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals Owners Suspended from IPL for 2 Years

The owners of the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals have both been suspended from the Indian Premier League for the next two seasons for their involvement in the 2013 corruption scandal. Confirmation of their bans came via Sambit Bal of ESPN Cricinfo.

It means that unless Jaipur IPL (RR) and India Cements (CSK) are bought out, neither side will participate in the 2016 and 2017 editions of the competition.

The sanctions were announced on Tuesday as a result of the Justice Lodha hearing, in which team principal Gurunath Meiyappan and co-owner Raj Kundra—part of the Super Kings and the Royals franchises, respectively— also discovered their individual punishments for supposed illegal betting activities.

Here is a section of the statement from Lodha, per ESPN Cricinfo:

"

Disrepute has been brought to cricket, the BCCI and the IPL to such an extent that there are doubts abound in the public whether the game is clean or not.

Jaipur IPL claims it is highly celebrated as a nursery of players. But three of its players have accused of alleged spot-fixing. This shows that all is not well in their handling of affairs. The position of Raj Kundra with the Rajasthan Royals franchise - part owner and team official - means his actions brought the game, BCCI and IPL into disrepute.

Gurunath is the son-in-law of N Srinivasan, who was the managing director of India Cements. Gurunath was also the face of CSK. So consequently, the actions of such persons brings the BCCI and the game to disrepute.

"

The Judge confirmed that both Kundra and Gurunath were “declared ineligible from participating in cricket for five years,” “suspended for life” and “suspended for life from being involved in the BCCI from any type of cricket matches,” per ESPN Cricinfo.

Gurinder Osan/Associated Press

News of the ban will come as a devastating blow to the eight-team competition, which is one of the most popular 20-over competitions in the world. The verdict also means that some of the star players involved in these two teams—men such as MS Dhoni, Steve Smith and Brendon McCullum—will be “free” according to the judge, per ESPN Cricinfo.

On July 16, news came out Steve Smith is considering not entering the IPL Auction next year following news of the Rajasthan Royals suspension, per Freddie Wilde of ESPN Cricinfo.

But Bal thinks there are more important issues to consider:

The wrangle is not over by any means, either. Three players were embroiled in the scandal—Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan— and their cases are still being discussed in lower courts.

The verdict could yet be appealed by the teams and figures involved, but according to ESPN Cricinfo, that’s unlikely because the sanction was “passed by a retired chief justice of India.” It’s also noted in the piece that stocks in India Cements have already fallen by five percent, according to NDTV.

Journalist Rajdeep Sardesai thinks the two teams are in massive trouble, but offers some hope for a solution:

Rajasthan and Chennai are two of the most illustrious teams in the competition, having won the tournament in three of its eight editions to date. For the league to lose two teams of their immense gravitas would be a devastating blow and supporters will be hoping some kind of agreement can be struck that’ll preserve an eight-team division.

Aijaz Rahi/Associated Press

But there’s been a clear message sent by the Supreme Court that these things will not be tolerated moving forward. Sadly, some of the most passionate cricket supporters in the world and the finest players in the game look like they could be collateral damage in what is a sorry affair.