January 4, 2016
MUMBAI – A monumental Monday dawned upon Indian cricket's boardroom as the Supreme Court-appointed Justice RM Lodha Committee suggested a paradigm shift in the game's administration in India.
File image of Justice RM Lodha. (Getty Images)
January 4, 2016
MUMBAI – A monumental Monday dawned upon Indian cricket's boardroom as the Supreme Court-appointed Justice RM Lodha Committee suggested a paradigm shift in the game's administration in India.
File image of Justice RM Lodha. (Getty Images)
The most significant of those recommendations being bringing the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, legalizing betting, forming a players' association and de-linking the Indian Premier League (IPL) from the BCCI.
The sweeping changes came on the expected lines but will be received as a jolt by many in the BCCI corridors that has often reverberated with strong opposition against the RTI and a recognized players' association.
"The first thing committed did on reforms was preparation of questionnaire that comprised 8 different heads and 135 questions on diverse aspects concerning administration. They were circulated to office bearers and other stake holders, journalists, writers, lawyers, former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High courts, past national players, coaches and various state association heads," Justice Lodha said in his media address after submitting his report to the SC.
IPL, BCCI should have separate governing bodies
Here are some of the key points:
- Bringing the BCCI under the RTI Act
- Suggestion to the legislature for legalising betting with in-built mechanism
- Proposal to constitute players' association, which will be formed by a steering committee involving Anil Kumble, Mohinder Amarnath and Diana Eduljee
- De-linking the BCCI and IPL. Separate governing bodies for both.
- The chief governing body of IPL will be known as the Governing Council, comprising of 9 members, including representatives of franchises (2), players' association (1) and Comptroller and Auditor General's office (1). Limited autonomy for the IPL Governing Council which will remain answerable to the BCCI General Body.
- Clean chit to former IPL COO Sundar Raman with no sufficient evidence against him in the spot-fixing scandal.
- Ministers or government servants can’t be office-bearers of the BCCI, can't hold more than two terms in office and must not be over 70 years of age.
- Members of the selection committee can only be those who have played Test cricket
- Cricketing matters to be handled by cricketers only, including selection of teams and coaching.
- One state to have only one association that will be a full member of the BCCI and have a right to vote.
- Proposal to appoint an Ethics Officer to handle conflict of interest issues and an Electoral Officer, which will be a former Election Commissioner, to hold BCCI elections.
- Three other authorities for BCCI: Ombudsman, Ethics Officer, Electoral Officer
More to follow…
Courtesy: IBN
