Already in disarray, BCCI gets more headache in form of committee confusion

The CoA’s recent decision that all financial matters will be handled by the CFO, who will report to the CEO, has added to the conf­u­­sion.

BCCI (File photo| PTI)

CHENNAI: Things are getting messier by the day in the BCCI. Already in disarray in the absence of an elected top brass with question marks over the status of stand-in office-bearers, the board had an im­portant finance committee me­eting cancelled on Thursday due to confusion over authority. A day earlier, leaving out chairman Niranjan Shah from the list of invitees for a meeting of the NCA board had caused a stir.

To begin with, the status of th­e­se committees is unclear, since all financial steps have to be appr­o­ved by the Committee of Administrators (CoA). Decisions ta­ken by these committees in­v­o­l­v­i­n­g payments are not enough.

Th­­ey mean nothing unless the CoA clears them. Second, these co­mmittees were formed at the 2016 AGM, wh­ich has been termed null and void by the CoA.

BCCI members said the CoA has been approached for clarific­a­tion, but there has been no reply.

“The CoA told us decisions taken in meetings have to be forw­arded to them. They are quiet wh­e­ther these decisions are final or n­ot. If they are not, why should we waste time in these me­etings?” said a member, adding that raise in domestic and wo­m­en’s cricket was among talks th­at got stalled because of Thursday’s no-show.

The CoA’s recent decision that all financial matters will be handled by the CFO, who will report to the CEO, has added to the conf­u­­sion. It bypasses the existing sy­st­em involving the treasurer and se­cretary, which is not in sync wi­­­th the BCCI’s constitution.

“It’s not part of the Lodha report ei­t­­h­er,” said the member. CoA’s Vinod Rai and Diana Ed­u­lji were unavailable for c­om­­­m­ent.

The CoA has not helped matt­e­r­­s by not stating how these committees function. It has sa­­id th­at these bodies can’t ta­ke decisions, but did not disso­l­­­­ve th­e­m either. “Under what rule are these committees bei­ng governed? Can CoA d­­­i­­ctate policy is another questi­on,” said the member.

Shah, meanwhile, wrote to acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary that Friday’s meeting should be cancelled since he had not been invited and that members did not have time to prepare.

atreyo@newindianexpress.com