Riyan Parag has been fined 25 percent of his match fee after he was caught vaping inside the Rajasthan Royals dressing room during an IPL 2026 match. The BCCI treated the incident as a Level 1 offence under the IPL Player Code of Conduct, saying the act brought the game into disrepute.
BCCI Charges Riyan Parag Under Level 1 Offence
The BCCI charged Riyan Parag under Article 2.1 of the Player Code of Conduct, which covers general breaches by players and officials.
Since there is no specific provision for smoking or vaping inside the dressing room, the board applied Article 2.21, which deals with conduct that can damage the image of the game.
Parag was seen vaping an e-cigarette in the Rajasthan Royals dressing room during their match against Punjab Kings in Mullanpur on April 28. The match referee reviewed the incident and announced a fine of 25 percent of his match fee.
As per the report, Parag’s IPL 2026 contract is worth Rs 14 crore. His per-match fee comes to around Rs 1 crore, which means the fine is close to Rs 25 lakh. Since this was treated as a first-time offence, it remained under Level 1 of the Code of Conduct.
Riyan Parag Likely to Accept Fine and Move On
Riyan Parag was reportedly served the notice on April 30. He has the right to appeal the decision, but an appeal could lead to an investigation and further proceedings.
According to the report, Parag is expected to accept the fine and move on from the incident. There was no information about any hearing at the time of the report.
The incident has drawn attention because it happened inside the team dressing room during a live IPL match. The BCCI’s action shows that player behaviour away from the field can also come under the Code of Conduct if it is considered harmful to the image of the game.
