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Tainted IPL teams to receive punishment

New Delhi - Two teams from cricket's Indian Premier League could be banned from the glitzy Twenty20 tournament when a Supreme Court-appointed panel hands down its sentence on Tuesday on a corruption scandal.
Officials from the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Rajasthan Royals have already been found guilty of betting on matches and their respective teams now face heavy sanctions after an inquiry that also tainted International Cricket Council supremo Narayanaswami Srinivasan.
An outright ban on the two former champions would be a devastating blow to what is only an eight-team tournament, and observers say former chief justice Rajendra Mal Lodha, who heads the three-man panel, is more likely to announce heavy fines.
Lodha was appointed head of the sentencing panel in January after the Supreme Court had found Royals' co-owner Raj Kundra and CSK's Gurunath Meiyappan guilty of betting on the outcome of matches in 2013.
The court had rejected the claims of Meiyappan, who had previously been described as team principal, that he was merely an enthusiast. The court also ruled at the same time that Srinivasan, who is Meiyappan's father-in-law, would be banned from holding any post in the BCCI, where he served as the president for three years from 2011.
The outcome could have major financial consequences for some of cricket's biggest names as CSK are captained by India's ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni while Australia's star batsman Steve Smith is at the helm of the Rajasthan Royals. The Royals are coached by Indian great Rahul Dravid. - AFP