Disgraced IPL founder Modi down, but not out

NEW DELHI: Disgraced Indian Premier League founder Lalit Modi has been banned for life from holding any cricket post, three years after being thrown out of his own popular, but tainted, Twenty20 league.
The general body of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which met in Chennai, accepted the verdict of its disciplinary panel that found Modi guilty of “serious” acts of indiscipline and misconduct. But Modi said he would indeed have the “last call” in the issue.
“They (BCCI) will have their day and I will have the last call. I am not going anywhere. I will be right here,” Modi told a leading news channel.
Modi also took a veiled potshot at BCCI’s controversial president N Srinivasan accusing BCCI members of protecting the strongman from southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Modi, who now lives in self-exile in London, currently holds no post in the BCCI, having already been removed as IPL chairman and BCCI vice-president after the conclusion of the third edition of the tournament in 2010.
The 49-year-old scion of a business family, who is also being investigated by the government on corruption and money-laundering charges, has in the past denied all allegations against him.
BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel earlier said in a statement: “The BCCI resolved that Mr. Lalit Modi is guilty of committing acts of serious misconduct and indiscipline, and therefore he is hereby expelled from the board.”
Modi was found guilty, among other things, of rigging bids during the franchise auction in 2010, selling media and Internet rights without authorization and secretly trying to create a rebel T20 league in England without the knowledge of the Indian and England boards.