CHENNAI: It has been almost two years that the state associations under BCCI have had their supply of funds stopped for not complying with the Supreme Court’s reform orders.
They do receive money for hosting matches, but not the share of profits from media rights, which was on average in excess of Rs 20cr annually per unit for the last five years before the court order.
The situation has forced desperate measures. The Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) has borrowed Rs 5 crore from a bank to keep things running. This is the second time since BCCI funds stopped that the KCA has taken such an amount on loan. It is not the only state to have taken this path. Last year, the Assam Cricket Association had taken a bank loan of Rs 6 crore to complete its new stadium.
Officials of the Kerala unit will meet the Committee of Administrators (CoA) in Mumbai on October 9 and request for release of funds. “The KCA president and myself will explain our situation. Of the Rs 5 crore overdraft we took from Federal Bank, Rs 1.5 crore has already been spent. Activities of the association will suffer if we don’t get the BCCI subsidy soon,” KCA secretary Sreejith V Nair told Express on Friday.
The official informed that the KCA has submitted the compliance certificate that all associations are supposed to not once but twice. “After we gave it the first time, there was some problem. So we sent it afresh and everything is in tune with the Supreme Court order. We will request the CoA for an advance from the infrastructure subsidy due to us.”
Last year also the KCA had borrowed Rs 5 crore, which was repaid earlier this year, after the association got Rs 16 crore following an affidavit in the Supreme Court. “We maintain 12 grounds which comes to Rs 20-25 lakh a month. Running residential academies where we provide everything also costs a lot. Plus there are statutory obligations like income tax. Without the CoA’s help and annual grant or infrastructure subsidy, it’s difficult to run the association.”
No decision on passes
In its meeting with CoA, the KCA will also bring up the passes issue, which has cast doubts over venues selected for the India-West Indies series. A new rule stipulates 10% of free tickets for international matches. Assigned the fifth and final ODI in Thiruvananthapuram on Nov 1, the KCA is also facing a problem on this front. Nair said this will also be brought up during their meeting with the CoA. Allotted the first ODI in Guwahati on Oct 21, the ACA will hold a meeting on Saturday to discuss the matter.
CoA to decide today
In a tight corner after multiple state associations raised concerns about the issue of complimentary passes, the BCCI might be forced to increase the share of free passes in order to pacify the affiliated units. The CoA will meet on Saturday to work out a feasible solution. It is learnt it can’t have a common solution as Eden Gardens, Chepauk, Wankhede each have different capacities with different allocation of free passes.
atreyo@newindianexpress.com