CHENNAI: Committee of administrators (CoA) might seek exemption for players (both current and former) from the contentious conflict of interest rule. CoA, led by Vinod Rai, on Saturday decided to approach the Supreme Court for seeking clarity on rule 38 of the BCCI constitution. The rule deals with conflict of interest. The decision was taken in the wake of ethics officer retired Justice DK Jain’s rulings on former players VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly.
“It’s a bit unfair if players miss out on their assignments like commentary because of this rule. An exemption might be sought for players as far as conflict of interest issue is concerned,” said an official privy to the development. Last month, the BCCI ethics officer had ruled that Laxman and Ganguly have to choose one of the multiple posts they have been holding including their commentary stints in the World Cup. Sub-rule 4 of rule 38 prevents an individual from holding more than one post at any given point of time. It also mentions 16 posts including player (current), selector/member of cricket committee and commentator which cannot be held by an individual at the same time.
Laxman is a member of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) — from which he has offered to step down — mentor of IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad and a commentator. Ganguly, who is commentating in the World Cup, is a CAC member, president of Cricket Association of Bengal, and also the advisor of IPL side Delhi Capitals. The order, if enforced, can potentially affect a host of former and active players who take up commentary assignments with their other cricketing roles.
Incidentally, one of the powerful state associations also requested Supreme Court-appointed amicus curiae to exempt former cricketers from the cooling-off rule. In May, Jain dismissed case of conflict of interest against Sachin Tendulkar over his dual role as a CAC member and Mumbai Indians batting mentor. This was done after Tendulkar decided not to be a part of the CAC unless he is provided with agreeable “terms of reference”. For the record, he too is commentating in the ongoing World Cup. It was learnt that CoA took the opinion of its legal team.
Meanwhile, the potential conflict of interest over Rahul Dravid’s appointment as National Cricket Academy’s head of cricket has been put to rest after Dravid decided to take leave without pay for two years from his employer India Cements. He is expected to join NCA in his new role soon.