BCCI accuses Committee of Administrators of double standards

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) members met in Mumbai on Friday and slammed the Committee of Administrators (COA). Individuals from the members of the BCCI met to discuss and deliberate upon the state of affairs of the cricket board and expressed grave concern over the same.

The members also expressed great unanimity on the issues discussed. A lot of issues were discussed and a summary of the discussion on some of the prominent issues that were discussed are given hereinbelow.

a. The members expressed shock at the manner in which decision-making was happening in the Committee of Administrators (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.

b. 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.

c. 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.

d. 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.

e. 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.

f. 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.

g. The members decided that they would bring forth certain points before the Hon'ble Supreme Court in order to ensure that democracy is restored in decision making especially on cricketing matters so that Indian cricket does not suffer.

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