The cricket Board president, N Srinivasan, may have announced a fair inquiry into the allegations against Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings in the spot-fixing scandal, but the Twenty20 league has acknowledged it can no longer champion the cause of the spirit of the game.
Srinivasan has refused to step down from his post despite his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan's arrest by the Mumbai crime branch.
However, with nowhere to run in the wake of the scandal that threatens to engulf many more, the T20 league's bosses seem to have decided they would not put up any pretence of fairplay.
Controversial teams
Ahead of Sunday's final between the Mumbai Indians and CSK, the official website pulled down the points table for fairplay.
The two teams mired in the mess, CSK and Royals - eliminated in the second qualifier after losing to MI - were on top of the fairplay table. The scandal exploded with the arrests of the Royals trio Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila. People had even questioned CSK's right to play in the final after Meiyappan was arrested for links with Vindoo Dara Singh.
{{/usCountry}}The two teams mired in the mess, CSK and Royals - eliminated in the second qualifier after losing to MI - were on top of the fairplay table. The scandal exploded with the arrests of the Royals trio Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila. People had even questioned CSK's right to play in the final after Meiyappan was arrested for links with Vindoo Dara Singh.
{{/usCountry}}The fairplay award was presented in all previous editions, with CSK winning thrice.
It is decided on the basis of points given by the umpires after every match, including some for upholding the spirit of the game.
The Pune Warriors, who were third in the table, too face an uncertain future after owners Sahara announced they were pulling out.
The umpires themselves have not been above board - Pakistani official Asad Rauf left the country in a hurry after becoming a target of investigation by the Mumbai Police.