BCCI appraisals, CAC declaration to highlight CoA’s Monday meet

By Baidurjo Bhose

New Delhi, Aug 4 (IANS) The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) are set to meet in the national capital on Monday and the two things that will highlight the event are discussions over the appraisals of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) employees and the declarations made by the three-member Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) with regards to the conflict of interest as they gear up to pick the next India head coach.

The trio of Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shantha Rangaswamy had been formally appointed the new CAC and asked by CEO Rahul Johri to give declarations regarding any conflict. They have replied to the mail and the ball is now in the court of the CoA and the legal team of the BCCI. While the legal team is expected to initially scrutinise the mails, it will finally go to Ethics Officer D.K. Jain if there is any doubt.

A senior board functionary said that while there have been talks of conflict with regards to all the three members, the legal team will be guiding the CoA in this case.

"The CoA will discuss the replies of the three members with the legal team and the future course of action will be decided after that. If the legal team deems they aren't conflicted, then the appointment holds ground. Else, the Ethics Officer will come into the picture," the functionary told IANS.

The new BCCI constitution calls for -- one person one post -- and if that is the case, all three CAC members could face issues with conflict. Kapil is a director of the Indian Cricketers Association (ICA) and that is funded by the BCCI. This apart, he is also said to be the owner of Dev Musco, a sports lighting company that supplies floodlights to some leading Indian international cricket grounds.

Gaekwad has been on various BCCI committees over the years and is now a member of the affiliation committee of the board. He was also a member of the steering committee of the players association. Shantha like Kapil is the director of the Indian Cricketers Association.

Another major discussion will be the salary of the BCCI employees. There was quite a storm in the post-lunch session in the last meeting and the reason was the efforts of the CEO to push the case of CFO Santosh Rangnekar and promote him over IPL COO Hemang Amin. The move by the CEO has once again divided the CoA as Diana Edulji put her foot down and said that the hardwork put in by Amin in the successful conduct of the T20 league cannot be ignored.

There is a general feeling in the BCCI that the CEO and the CFO hunt as a pair and that the "you scratch my back, I scratch your back" syndrome must end.

"Looks like the duo have taken a leaf out of the books of fast bowlers who hunt in pairs. So, first the CFO ensures that he provides an excellent presentation to ensure that the CEO gets a hike and then the CEO is now pushing the case of the CFO to be promoted over the IPL COO. What they seem to be forgetting is that the IPL COO's efforts are there for all to see. It will be interesting to see how the matter unfolds on Monday as Johri is in the US along with the CFO and might have to give the meeting a miss," a BCCI functionary told IANS.

This apart, the matter of state bodies complying with the proposals of the Lodha Committee and gearing up for the state elections will also be discussed and the CoA is expected to meet the Amicus Curiae post the meeting.