BCCI should delink itself from IPL, says Maken

Sports Minister Ajay Maken says the Board of Control for Cricket in India should probe the root cause of the spot-fixing scandal that rocked the Indian Premier League and suggested it should de-link itself from the cash-rich Twenty20 league to avoid "overlapping of interests".

"As I have said, the BCCI should go into the root cause of the problem. They have to handle the investigation because BCCI is recognised by the ICC to run cricket in India. It is their mandate and their duty. They are foremost responsible," Maken told reporters on Wednesday.

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He said the BCCI should also open up its accounts to Right To Information to bring about much-needed credibility.

"They should not submit their accounts to us but they should open their accounts to RTIs. This will bring much-needed credibility to BCCI," Maken said.

He also suggested that the BCCI should keep an arm's distance from the IPL, citing the examples of the English Premier League, where the clubs run the tournament instead of the national football body.

"IPL should be at arm's distance from BCCI. It should not be under BCCI. IPL and BCCI should be away from each other so that there is no overlapping of interests," he said.

"If you look at English Premier League and other leagues world over, they always have distance from their parent sports federations. The NSF never organises the EPL," he added.

He also said that politicians should keep away from running sports bodies.

"Politicians should keep themselves away from running sports federations. Leave the administration of sports to qualified people who can run the sport," he said.

His comments come in the backdrop of the television sting operation which led to the suspension of five IPL players for alleged involvement in spot-fixing.