MPCC appeals MCA to lift ban on Shah Rukh Khan from entering Wankhede

Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) has appealed to the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) to reconsider its ban on actor-producer Shah Rukh Khan, also the co-owner of Kolkata Knight Riders, from entering Wankhede stadium.

Points Table | Scorecard | Schedule | Stats

In an email sent on Tuesday to MCA president Ravi Savant, MPCC spokesman Sachin Sawant said Shahrukh Khan publicly apologised for his misconduct at the stadium after a match in the last season of IPL.

"After the apology, we feel that it would be in the interest of sports if your esteemed organisation shows true sportsman spirit and allows entry to Khan. It is not the question of Shahrukh Khan as an actor, but of any citizen - a ban is not a democratic punishment especially when the person has apologised," Sawant said.

"I request you to kindly reconsider the punishment given to him and allow him entry for today's match," the MPCC spokesman wrote.

Tonight's match will be the first KKR match in Mumbai after last year's incident, in which the actor behaved in an allegedly abusive manner with a security guard and MCA officials.

"Action (to ban Shah Rukh Khan) was taken by late Vilasrao Deshmukh (in his capacity as president of MCA), who is no longer with us and was himself a Congressman. When the concerned person (Shah Rukh) himself has not bothered to apologise to MCA, I fail to understand why the Congress is concerned about this matter," Ravi Savant told PTI when asked for his reaction.