Published: May 30, 2013, 11:05 PM (IST)
Edited: May 30, 2013, 11:05 PM (IST)
N Srinivasan is under increasing pressure to resign as BCCI President © Getty Images
New Delhi: May 30, 2013
Slamming BCCI President N Srinivasan for not calling a meeting of the Board to discuss his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan‘s arrest on betting charges, Board Treasurer Ajay Shirke on Thursday said that he is mulling quitting from his post on the issue, according to a report.
Shirke, who on Wednesday called for Srinivasan’s resignation on moral grounds, said he will wait and see for a few days before taking a decision.
“If Board continues to ignore what I consider is primary responsibility, I will find it difficult for myself to be associated with it. I will wait and see. A few days, maybe within a week, I will make up my mind. If there’s going to be more and more room for fingers to be pointed, I will have to take a call… I cannot let my personal reputation and credibility be tarnished. That for me stands above everything else,” Shirke said.
“I am not satisfied. Normally whenever there’s a crisis — small, major, any kind of crisis — we call for a [Working Committee] meeting. On every such occasion, the president calls for a meeting, and the issue is discussed in great detail by every member of the working committee. That has been the prevalent way,” Shirke said.
“Even when players were arrested, there was an emergent meeting. Then we had a follow-up meeting in Chennai. Then the president came before the media and explained all the measures that had been taken. There hasn’t been anything on this [Gurunath arrest] issue,” he was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
“If the president calls for a meeting and puts his views across and hears out other units – you don’t necessarily need to change your position — it would follow the proper procedure. Otherwise, the media trial will go on and on.”
Shirke re-iterated that he would have resigned had he been in Srinivasan’s place.
“If I was Srinivasan and my son-in-law was arrested, I would have stepped aside till the internal probe was over. I have made my stance very clear on it,” he said.
Despite mounting pressure from within the BCCI and from outside Srinivasan has dug into his heels and remained defiant, insisting that he had done no wrong and hence would not resign.
Shirke, who was earlier guarded in his opinion, had on Wednesday called for Srinivasan’s resignation on moral grounds.
“If I was in his place, I would step away from the inquiry. I mean step down till the inquiry is done,” he had said.
“The credibility of the Board and the perception in which it is operating is taking a beating and increasingly so. Given the continuous media speculation and the resulting damage to the image of the board, it is important that this is put to rest,” he said.
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