CHENNAI: The court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) has once again asked the BCCI members to not take any decision regarding the Champions Trophy or ICC without the approval of the May 7 special general meeting. In an email to acting BCCI secretary Amitabh Chowdhary and all other member associations, the CoA has said the team for the Champions Trophy should be picked immediately.
The BCCI has put this on hold as part of its threat to pull out, in protest of its financial demands not being accepted by the ICC board. “It would be appropriate to make all necessary preparations for ensuring that Team India can successfully defend its title in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 which commences on 1st June 2017. You are aware that the squad was to be submitted by 25th April 2017, but the squad has not even been selected as yet. Please convene a meeting of the selection committee for selecting the squad immediately. The squad can then be submitted to the ICC without prejudice to BCCI’s legal rights,” says the CoA letter, which is in possession of Express.
Till a few days back, the selection committee had not received any instruction from the BCCI to pick the squad. Usually, they are informed 48 hours in advance, but in exceptional circumstances, teams have been picked at a shorter notice. At a tele-conference on Tuesday addressed by N Srinivasan and attended by about 15 association representatives, including secretary Chowdhary and treasurer Anirudh Choudhry, it was discussed that the BCCI should write a letter to the ICC to “remedy the situation” for a breach in the Members Participation Agreement.
Certain members were of the opinion that the decision to send the letter can only be made after getting it cleared at the SGM. In its fresh communication to the BCCI, the CoA said, “In the above circumstances, there is no reason why any notice should be issued to the ICC before members of BCCI have had the opportunity to discuss the matter and take a well-considered decision as mentioned in our email dated 3rd May 2017. We do not believe that BCCI’s legal rights will be prejudiced in any manner if a notice is not issued to the ICC prior to the SGM. A decision of such magnitude needs to be taken after following due process and the correct forum for that is the SGM. The CoA will consider the matter of issuing a notice to the ICC only after the SGM takes a decision.” Failing this, the CoA said, it will report the matter to the Supreme Court.
“The CoA will extend all possible cooperation and support to any decision taken at the SGM which protects the interests of Indian cricket as a whole but will be duty bound to approach the Hon’ble Supreme Court and take other necessary steps in the event the decision(s) taken at the SGM is/are, in our view, against the interests of Indian cricket.”