NEWS
SCHEDULES
COLUMNS
PREVIOUS TOURS
OTHER SPORTS
STATISTICS
INTERVIEWS
SLIDE SHOW
ARCHIVES

Dalmiya under fire

For International Cricket Council chairman Jagmohan Dalmiya, it is a case of one thing after another.

The latest helping of trouble to land on his plate is political. With the Trinamul Congress spearheading a demand for his immediate ouster from both the ICC, and the Cricket Association of Bengal which he has been heading for years.

It will be recalled that recently, the CAB rewrote its constitution to allow Dalmiya to have an unprecedented third term at its head.

The Trinamul Congress workers on Thursday staged a protest in front of the CAB, demanding a separate CBI inquiry into Dalmiya's alleged involvement in the distribution of television rights. Enraged Trinamul activists also burnt the ICC chairman's effigy, and demanded his immediate expulsion from all cricket bodies.

The protest, the first of its kind from a political outfit, was organised by the sports cell of the Trinamul Congress.

Trinamul sports cell president and former national football star Prasun Bannerjee was in Delhi at the time, but his deputy Swapan Das Swapan Das lashed out at Dalmiya for commiting financial embezzlement while granting TV rights. " The Trinamul Congress suspects Dalmiya's direct involvement in financial irregularities, especially while granting TV rights for the Dhaka Mini World Cup tournament. Miss (Mamata) Banerjee has assured us that she would take up the matter with the central government soon," Das said.

Trimamul leader and state convenor of the party's sports cell Viswajit Dasgupta said that Dalmiya had ' ruined the fair image of cricket bodies by converting them into his business extensions.'

'TV Rights Sale, Broker Dalmiya', 'Want Fresh Cricket? Sack Dalmiya' -- these and other placards were carried by the Trinamul workers. Agitated party leaders said that only professionals should head prestigious sports associations.

Worse news followed bad, when the organisers of the protest indicated that this was merely a curtain raiser. 'Once Mamta Bannerjee comes back here to Calcutta, we will be launching statewide protests against Dalmiya,' a Trinamul leader promised.