After refusing to resign and threatening to expose some people who tried to bring the game into disrepute, Modi took the bold step of deciding to attend the meeting besides setting the agenda for it.
Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Lalit Modi today sprang a surprise by deciding to attend tomorrow's governing council meeting, setting the stage for a stormy confrontation with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) top brass which is gunning for his head.
After refusing to resign and threatening to expose some people who tried to bring the game into disrepute, Modi took the bold step of deciding to attend the meeting besides setting the agenda for it.
"I will attend and chair the meeting of the governing council as chairman and commissioner. I have issued the agenda to the governing council," Modi wrote on his twitter page.
Modi's move to attend the meeting is being seen as a ploy to not only catch the BCCI off-guard but also put them in a legal tangle.
The BCCI, which was earlier planning to sack him in his absence, will now have to hear out his defence against charges of financial irregularities, having silent stakes in IPL franchises and breaching the confidentiality clause on the ownership patterns of the franchises.
As soon as the news broke out that Modi would attend the meeting, there was hectic activities at the BCCI headquarters.
"Obviously there will be some redrawing of strategy now that he has made his intentions clear of attending the meeting but our strategy will still be to oust him. He has brought so much shame for Indian cricket," a BCCI source said.
BCCI, on its part, was contemplating sending a suspension notice to Modi, who had earlier refused to come to the meeting calling it 'illegal'. But it could not be immediately confirmed.
Earlier, the BCCI's top brass was huddled in a meeting of its own at the Board headquarters here to fine-tune its strategy to sack the defiant Modi.
BCCI president Shashank Manohar, vice-president Arun Jaitley, secretary N Srinivasan, chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty, media and finance committee chairman Rajiv Shukla and IPL vice-chairman Niranjan Shah met at the headquarters on what is generally an off day for the officials.
For the second day, efforts were made to persuade Modi to quit on his own as sacking him would have to be followed by an inquiry into the reasons which might throw up some more damaging financial dealings.
There were also talks about a couple of franchise owners being brought in to talk Modi into resigning after Sharad Pawar's attempts at getting him to put in his papers failed.
His support base in the BCCI might be non-existent but Modi has found the backing of IPL franchise owners, who feel the league's conceptualiser has become the victim of a media trial and deserves a chance to explain himself.
The extent to which Modi has been marginalised can be gauged from the fact that the Champions League Twenty20, of which Modi is the chairman, held a meeting without him and the entire BCCI top brass boycotted the IPL awards on Friday.
The board's constitution empowers its disciplinary committee "to inquire into and deal with the matters relating to any act of indiscipline or misconduct or violation of any of the Rules and Regulations of any player, umpire, team official, administrator, selector or any other person appointed or employed by the BCCI."
Pending an inquiry, the person would be suspended by the president from "participating in any of the affairs of the board until final adjudication". The adjudication should be completed within six months.
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