MUMBAI: Administrators representing about 20 state units affiliated to the Board of Control for Cricket in India held a special meeting on Friday to formulate a common strategy ahead of a decisive (hopefully?) Supreme Court hearing on 17 January.
The chief architect of the meeting was reportedly N Srinivasan, former chairman of ICC and former president of BCCI, the veteran cricket administrator whose reign as the most powerful figure in the game was ended by the very same Supreme Court.
No prizes for presuming that most of the deliberations were around the functioning of the Supreme Court-appointed and Vinod Rai-led Committee of Administrators. The BCCI has accused the CoA of autocracy and double standards in leadership, which is costing the board resources and creating confusion. His decisions are being considered as ‘arbitrary’ and in ‘violation of the constitution of the board’.
After the meeting, the member associations issued an official release listing their grievances:
On decision making by CoA
The members expressed shock at the manner in which decision making was happening in the CoA where the decisions and views of one member were being ignored and the decisions of the other were being executed irregularly despite there being a deadlock in decision making on such decisions. The members were concerned about the resources of the BCCI being wrongfully expended on such irregular decisions being taken.
On misconduct and their treatment
The members expressed shock at the double standards on display in dealing with issues related to players where show cause notices have been issued and the players have been suspended pending enquiry and in dealing with issues relating to the CEO who was not even suspended and in whose case the enquiry procedure adopted was arbitrary and in violation of the BCCI’s constitution and in the absence of any decision from the CoA as a committee.
Organisation of domestic tournaments
The members appreciated the effort put in by the member Associations that fielded the teams who were participating in domestic cricket for the first time. The members expressed shock at the statements being made in order to portray the purported success of the 2018-19 domestic season while nothing could be further from the truth.
It is unfortunate that for the first time the basic eligibility rules were shockingly changed mid-season, players ineligible to play for a state were given permission to play for the state. Rules were even changed to benefit particular individuals to allow them to allow inter-state transfer which was severely condemned and decried by those present.
There have been incidents where the match referees and umpires have reported for a game on the morning of the match in the face of settled protocol. A failure to source video equipment by the organisation has derailed the entire umpire assessment program that the BCCI had invested heavily in over the years both in terms of resources and in terms of legacy. The members condemned the fact that the BCCI management totally disregarded and ignored the decisions of the Technical Committee led by the former Indian Captain, Mr. Sourav Ganguly.
Functional issues in board
The members condemned the fact that the CoA willfully ignored the decisions taken in the Special General Meeting held in June 2018 which were solely in the domain of the General Body despite the fact that it was a meeting duly requisitioned by the members and only those individuals who were eligible as per the Lodha recommendations were present. This was an act to frustrate the democratic functioning and policy-making of the BCCI.
Legal representation barred
The members lamented the fact that efforts have been made to frustrate the legal representation of the Board before the courts of law which tantamounts to an attempt to frustrate the administration of justice.
Finally, the members decided that they would bring forth certain points before the Supreme Court in order to ensure that democracy is restored in decision making especially on cricketing matters so that Indian cricket does not suffer (emphasis ours).
