Lodha panel for GK Pillai as BCCI observer

New Delhi/Chennai: The Justice Lodha Committee has tightened the noose around India’s cricket administrators and has suggested to the Supreme Court that it disqualify all the existing office-bearers of the BCCI as well as the state associations for not implementing its recommendations.

The Supreme Court, which had reserved its orders at the hearing last month, will reconvene on December 5. Since the July court order that mandated the Lodha report, only four state associations — Vidarbha, Tripura, Rajasthan and Hyderabad — have agreed to comply with the Lodha recommendations.

In its third status report filled on November 18, the panel has recommended the name of former Union home secretary G.K. Pillai as an “observer” to oversee the daily administration of the cricket board. “While the day-to-day administration of the BCCI is (now) carried out by the CEO (Rahul Johri) and certain managers who assist him in this regard, there would be a need to appoint an observer who would guide the BCCI in its administration, particularly with reference to the award of contracts, transparency norms, audit, etc, for domestic, international and IPL cricket to be played hereafter,” the status report said.

Under BCCI rules, its office-bearers include the president, secretary, joint secretary, treasurer and five vice-presidents. In other words, incumbent president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke have to vacate their positions.

If the Supreme Court approves the Lodha Committee’s recommendations, Mr Pillai would have power to appoint an auditor and all necessary secretarial staff, besides guiding the BCCI in its administration.

A BCCI official said the committee’s new proposal would add more confusion in running the cricket body and would also put the cash-rich Indian Premier League in jeopardy. “From media rights to the Indian team’s shirt sponsor deal, every pending tender process has been delayed. Around 100 tenders are pending, mostly pertaining to the IPL, which is just four months away,” the administrator said.

Another BCCI source questioned the move to appoint Mr Pillai, a former government official, as the observer citing the committee’s own recommendations. “After spelling out a lot of criteria for office-bearers, the committee now seems to deviate from its own report by recommending the former home secretary’s name,” said the source.

The media rights tender for IPL has already been deferred, with the panel yet to appoint an auditor to oversee the process. IPL media rights is estimated to be worth around $4 billion. “The apparel contract with Nike comes to an end in March 2017. Now whether it’s Nike or Adidas or

Puma, any sports manufacturing company requires a minimum of six months to deliver consignments. These are some issues bothering the BCCI,” the official said.