BCCI struggling with vacant posts over SC not hearing board's 'conflict-of-interest' plea

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) may be the richest cricket board in the world, but it is facing a never-seen-before scenario at the moment as several top executive and administrative positions like Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Vice President and Ombudsman are lying vacant. On top of that, the BCCI may soon be without its President, Secretary and Joint-Secretary if the Supreme Court doesn’t relax its earlier order on the cooling-off rule. The current BCCI President Sourav Ganguly was appointed for the post for a period of nine months as the 'Cooling-Off' period clause in the new BCCI regime makes it mandatory for board officials to step down after six years in office.

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BCCI may soon be without its president Sourav Ganguly

That's not all as the BCCI hasn’t been able to form committees which perform important duties since electing its office bearers on October 23. After the appointments of Sourav Ganguly, Jay Shah, Arun Dhumal, Mahim Verma and Jayesh George as President, Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President and Joint secretary respectively, the standing committees were supposed to be formed at the board's Annual General Meeting (AGM). But due to chaos over the eligibility of prospective committee members arising out of the conflict-of-interest clauses, hindered the process and forced the board to seek clarifications from the Supreme Court. 

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The petitions were filed last year but the court hasn't taken up the case for hearing yet, which has indirectly made matters complicated for the BCCI. To make matters worse, CFO Santosh Rangnekar, CEO Rahul Johri and vice-president Verma resigned. The board is also without an ombudsman after DK Jain’s term got over on February 29. It’s compulsory for the board to have these posts filled.

The daily affairs were supposed to be handled by the CEO but the board has asked for changes with respect to giving the power back to the Secretary. The same hasn’t been approved by the Supreme Court yet and the CEO’s absence is being felt. In fact, fees of certain umpires, match officials and also some domestic players are yet to be paid.

The BCCI does not have a plan ready as to how will it handle things post this pandemic, unlike some other boards. BCCI's failure to make payments in time has made it come under severe criticism from some quarters.

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However, BCCI Treasurer Arun Dhumal told The New Indian Express that last season, the BCCI conducted tournaments without these committees. He added that it’s not affecting the functioning all the office-bearers are monitoring activities and are in regular touch.  He further said that when it comes to the committees, conflict-of-interest is an issue stopping them from making appointments. He is certain that once they are clear on that, committees will be formed. Dhumal reckoned that by August, they will have plans in place for the domestic calendar, which is again uncertain due to the pandemic.

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IMAGE COURTESY: PTI