'CHEEKY' BCCI'S BALANCING ACT

At its annual general meeting, cricket Board took decisions in complete defiance of instructions of the Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Committee

By Qaiser Mohammad Ali, www.outlookindia.com

New Delhi: The BCCI on September 22, 2016 defied the Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Committee by taking up its controversial agenda at the Annual General Meeting, but also tried to do a balancing act by saying the decisions taken were subject to the approval of the apex court.

The Lodha Committee had warned the BCCI that if it took up any agenda items concerning 2016-17 onwards it would be contempt of court, until it fully complied with its wide-ranging recommendations. But a defiant BCCI went ahead with the entire 13-point agenda, and constituted new selections committees, elected its secretary, approved the budget for 2016-17, and picked its representatives for the ICC and the Asian Cricket Council meetings – all decisions pertaining to the future.

At the same time, the BCCI tried to show that it was complying with the Supreme Court order, saying the decisions taken were subject to the approval of the court.

"At today's meeting, the BCCI has tried to show the Supreme Court that it was complying with its order while not giving much heed to the Lodha Committee," said a prominent member of a state association, interpreting the BCCI move.

"Essentially, three things have emerged from today's meeting. One, the BCCI will accept some Lodha Committee recommendations in toto. Second, it will accept some other recommendations with slight amendments. And, lastly, it looks like it will never accept a few recommendations like one state, one vote, which threatens the existing of associations like Saurashtra, Baroda, Mumbai and Vidarbha,”" he said after the meeting.

The BCCI also passed a resolution, which looks a clear attempt to not to antagonise the Supreme Court, just a few weeks after asking chief justice TS Thakur to recuse himself from hearing its review petition, filed against the landmark July 18 judgement.

"The 87th AGM of the BCCI is being held today 21st September 2016 and the proceedings are being conducted for the compliance of statutory provisions under which the BCCI is constituted and also for ensuring that the day to day operations of the BCCI are not hampered particularly in view of the ongoing major national and international tournaments, commitments and is subject to the orders of the Hon'ble Supreme Court," reads the resolution passed at the meeting held in Mumbai.

A source said the BCCI also sent to the Lodha Committee the list of decisions taken, another move to show that it was not taking the former Supreme Court judges head on.

Although the Lodha Committee did not send an observer for the meeting, as it was talked about in some quarters, another source aware of the panel members' mood said that the BCCI has committed contempt of court by taking up the controversial agenda. "The committee has seen the decisions taken and it will take a call," he told Outlook.

While on the face of it, the BCCI tried to have the best of both worlds, that was not the case behind the scenes at the AGM, said a state association official who attended the meeting. "There was some rough talk on the sidelines of the meeting and one of the persons used some uncharitable words," he said. "However, officially, the BCCI tried to show that it was complying with the Supreme Court's order, like appointment of ombudsman, player-agents, code of conduct etc."

Also, the BCCI has convened a special general meeting on September 30 to consider the amendments to the rules and regulations of BCCI as recommended by the Lodha Committee.
Interestingly, the Lodha Committee has already drafted a new constitution for the BCCI and told the Board to adopt it. But it now remains to be seen how much of the constitution drafted by the Lodha Committee would be incorporated by the BCCI.

‘Revamp draft’ a crude attempt to hijack ICC, asserts its former president Ehsan Mani

Says it shows ICC governance has reached its nadir

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

By Qaiser Mohammad Ali

New Delhi: Describing an attempt by the Indian, Australian and English Boards to “hijack the ICC” as a proof of its governance reaching an “absolute nadir”, former president of the world body Ehsan Mani on Friday claimed he could make a case that the affluent BCCI doesn’t need ICC money at all.

Mani, a chartered account who was ICC president from 2003-2006, didn’t rule out a split in the cricket world because of this attempt by the ‘Big Three’, but was confident that Indian public opinion would not allow BCCI to get away with its plans and be deprived of competitive cricket.

BCCI, the world’s richest cricket Board worth Rs 3,621.94 crore, along with Cricket Australia (CA) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has prepared a draft containing a revolutionary proposal to revamp ICC’s structure, governance, and financial model.

“I was getting information and vibes that something was cooking, much before the draft was presented at a January 9 ICC meeting and later was leaked to the media. I was absolutely horrified and shocked when I read the draft three days ago. This shows total disregard to the ICC,” Mani told Mail Today in an interview.

“I was involved with the ICC for 17 years (1989-2006) and know its history since 1909. It’s one of the most dangerous things to have happened to the ICC, and I say this very categorically,” he said.

“It’s a crude attempt at total hijacking of the ICC by the three Boards,” he said. “It’s a big insult to the other 100-plus ICC member countries.” 

Mani, who negotiated the 2007-2015 media rights deal worth $1.1 billion with ESPN-STAR Sports, indicated that the BCCI can survive on its own as its media and broadcast rights deals are lucrative, besides the money- spinning IPL.

“The BCCI doesn’t need ICC money. I can make a very strong case of BCCI not needing the money. The whole model of [ICC money] distribution is wrong. In all other international federations the weaker nations get more funds,” he said, referring to the current structure and also that mentioned in the ‘position paper’.

BCCI is projected as the biggest beneficiary in the proposal. But it’s also a hard fact that the N Srinivasan-headed Indian Board today controls cricket commerce and is driving changes in world cricket as a consequence.

Guessing the genesis of the problem, the London-based Mani said that the fear of upsetting BCCI might have prompted Australia and England to align with it.

“This [the attempt] is nothing new. Since Australia and England could be worried about upsetting BCCI, they became loyal to the Indian Board [in preparing the draft],” he said.

“It shows inherent weakness in ICC governance. It’s far weaker than when Jagmohan Dalmiya [1997-2000], Malcolm Gray [2000-2003] or when I was there. Percy Sonn [2006-2007] unfortunately died during his tenure. David Morgan [2008-10] tried to fix it, but now it has reached an absolute nadir,” Mani thundered.

The ICC Executive Board will discuss the draft next week in Dubai. Mani hasn’t lost hope. “An independent tribunal should look into the draft,” he said. 

When asked if he would be willing to help resolve the developing crisis, Mani said he would be eady to step in, if aksed. “But I would like the 'three' countries to resolve the issue.” 

(This interview first appeared in Mail Today on January 25, 2014)

FICA CEO Tim May blasts BCCI for misuse of power


EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

By Qaiser Mohammad Ali in New Delhi

New Delhi: THE Indian cricket Board has “ inequitable power” and it doesn’t blink while using it ruthlessly when it comes to cases like having someone like Laxman Sivaramakrishnan elected on the ICC Cricket Committee, alleges Tim May, CEO of the Federation of International Cricketers Association (FICA).

May feels actions like the BCCI allegedly takes would only make players’ unions eventually stronger. BCCI, incidentally, does not recognise any player association; rather, there is none in India at the moment.

Former Australia off- spinner May, who lost to Sivaramakrishnan in a poll to be the players’ representative on the committee, also says that the bigger concern for him is the way the International Cricket Council operates. He alleges “threats and intimidation” is used in decision making at the highest level.

“I am not hurt or disappointed with the BCCI; it’s commonly accepted in cricket circles that they are the most powerful cricket body and do not hesitate to use such inequitable power around the decision- making table,” May told Mail Today.

He said that FICA has long been questioning the way ICC works in certain spheres. “This isn’t an isolated instance; it’s a concern that has been consistently expressed about the governance style of the ICC, most recently by an independent Woolf Report,” he said about the former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales who recommended many changes in ICC’s structure.

The Aussie insisted that the issue is bigger that merely his defeat and the manner in which it came about.

“It’s the ICC’s voting process,” May said, referring to the voting done by the 10 Test captains who choose players’ representative on the ICC Cricket Committee.

“It’s up to them to police their processes and members’ codes of conduct,” he said. “ It’s important that cricket gets its governance correct, so as to ensure that the ICC can meet its charter of acting in the best interests of the game overall.”

The 16- member ICC Cricket Committee now has three Indians, including chairman Anil Kumble, who succeeded Clive Lloyd.

Ravi Shastri, the media representative, is the third one.

The first meeting of the committee will be held on May 28 and 29 in London. M AY and critics like him point out that the Indian has never held any position in either BCCI or ICC. And that it’s only because of his association with his employer India Cements, the company owned by BCCI president N Srinivasan, that Sivaramakrishnan has been treated preferentially.

On the other hand, May has been fighting for players’ cause for more than 15 years and was instrumental in setting up FICA, which now has the national player unions of seven of the 10 Test playing nations. India, Pakistan and Zimbabwe are still not on board.

May, however, is sure that incidents like this would make players gel strongly. “These sorts of actions by Boards only make the player group and player associations more determined and stronger,” May said.