Kirti Azad to fast against IPL

New Delhi, May 18 (IANS): Demanding that the Indian Premier League (IPL) be “closed”, Bharatiya Janata Party MP and former cricketer Kirti Azad Friday said he would go on a fast against the sporting event after the slew of controversies associated with the tournament.

“It (IPL) should be closed…I am sitting on a hunger fast at the Ferozeshah Kotla from (May) 20th. Some other cricketers and civil society members will also join me,” Azad told reporters Friday.

“…IPL I suppose is only entertainment… but we have money laundering, we have violation of foreign exchange, we have one player slapping another, there was a sting operation for spot fixing, now rape was left… that has also come in,” Azad said.

The latest controversy is the arrest of Royal Challengers Bangalore player Luke Pomersbach on charges of molesting an American woman in a Delhi hotel.

“Somebody got drunk and went into the cricket ground where nobody is allowed to go after a match. This is a mix of intoxication and entertainment…” he said, an apparent reference to the fracas between actor Shah Rukh Khan and officials at the Wankhede Stadium Wednesday night.