CHENNAI : AS many as 29 state cricket associations out of the 35 under the BCCI will soon be declared fully compliant by the Committee of Administrators (CoA). This compliant status will make these units eligible to vote in the annual general meeting of the board. Uttarakhand Cricket Association is not part of the 29, as it is run by an ad-hoc body. This means only five are still to fully adopt the new constitution they have been asked to.
This development in a CoA meeting on Friday can be termed significant, as it may pave the way for elections in the BCCI after four years. The last time they were held was in March, 2015, when Jagmohan Dalmiya was elected president in the 85th annual general meeting in Chennai. After Dalmiya passed away in September, 2015, Shashank Manohar became president in a special general meeting held next month.
The richest cricket board in the world has been run by the Supreme Court-appointed CoA since January 2017. Led by former comptroller and auditor general of India Vinod Rai, the CoA was entrusted with the task of running the affairs of the BCCI and implementing court-approved recommendations of the Justice RM Lodha panel.
“These 29 state units will soon be declared fully compliant. Most of them have adopted the Lodha reforms. A few others have agreed to adopt them in completeness soon. They will have to modify their respective constitutions accordingly and submit them to the BCCI for scrutiny. Once the BCCI gives them the go-ahead, they can register their constitutions. These associations will automatically fall under the fully compliant category once they get the compliance certificates,” an official privy to the meeting told this newspaper.
The CoA through amicus curiae PS Narasimha will then apprise the Supreme Court of the compliance. It is also expected to appeal to the top court for an election date. “Those who failed to adopt the Lodha reforms will be disqualified from voting at the BCCI’s annual general meeting,” added the official.
In October last year, only 17 state associations were deemed substantially compliant by the CoA in its 10th status report submitted to the apex court. A total of seven state units had been named non-compliant back then, while 10 were termed partially compliant. Those named non-compliant in that report were Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.
Punjab to explain Wadia position
The Committee of Administrators (CoA) on Friday sought a written explanation from Kings XI Punjab on the suspended arrest sentence handed to their co-owner Ness Wadia for possession of cannabis in Japan. Industrialist Wadia was arrested at Hokkaido airport for possession of 25gm of banned substance and sentenced to two years of imprisonment, the verdict that had been suspended for five years. As per IPL’s Code of Ethics, a franchise may receive sanctions if a player or owner of the team brings disrepute to the game.