BCCI wants more clarity on commentary issue
The BCCI has entrusted its legal committee, headed by PS Raman, with the responsibility to look into the by-laws and advise reforms with an eye on bringing in more clarity over certain conflict of interest issues. This is in addition to the conflict of interest guidelines for the administrators and cricketers (past and present) that have been approved at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Monday. The by-laws are set for an overhaul by February next year.
It is learnt that some members sought clarifications over certain issues such as commentary assignments of the former players during the meeting. Take the case of Sourav Ganguly, who has been appointed as technical committee chairman and also features in the IPL governing council. The former India captain hasn’t worked as a commentator since the World Cup, but questions do crop up if he is eligible for a future contract.
“An administrator shall not have any commercial interest in any activities/tournaments of the BCCI including Indian Premier League,” says the BCCI rules on conflict of interest. Then again, the Supreme Court gave a different interpretation of the subject during its hearing of the 2013 IPL spot-fixing case. “He (Ganguly) does not have a stake in the match, who wins or loses, he doesn’t have a commercial interest in the match,” the apex court had told the BCCI counsel.
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Wearing two hats
Today, board president Shashank Manohar said at the press conference in Mumbai that as long as Ganguly was not gaining commercially from the BCCI, he was free to work as the Cricket Association of Bengal president and also as the technical committee head. He’s free to represent the governing council as well. “He’s not doing commentary but he can pursue whatever profession he wants. The conflict would arise if he has a commercial interest in the board because we can’t stop him from pursuing his profession,” said Manohar.
As for Anil Kumble, he has been removed as the BCCI technical committee chief, but his association with the Mumbai Indians links him to the cricket board. After all, IPL, too, is a BCCI product. Kumble has joined the board’s commentary panel, so questions could be raised about him wearing two hats.
“Apparently, this could be a case of potential conflict of interest. We need more clarity, for things could be a little confusing at times. The legal committee has been asked to deal with issues like these. They will form the guidelines and will propose necessary changes to the by-laws. We will discuss it in details and by February we aim to overhaul the by-laws,” BCCI vice-president TC Mathew told The Indian Express. “Manohar has initiated a clean-up drive and everything will be dealt with properly,” he added.
