 "India's MS Dhoni hits a six during the 2nd ODI match against South Africa at Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore")
The Supreme Court-appointed Justice R M Lodha committee on Monday made a host of far-reaching recommendations for improvement of cricket administration in the country.
The proposals include separate governing bodies for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Indian Premier League (IPL), in a bid to partially segregate their functioning, bringing BCCI under the Right to Information (RTI), limiting age and tenures for officials, legalising betting, uniformity in structure of state associations, and a one-state, one-member (vote) pattern for the BCCI governing body. “People have the right to know the functions, facilities and other activities (of BCCI) and, therefore, we have recommended that the legislature must seriously consider bringing BCCI within the purview of RTI Act,” Justice Lodha said.
The 159-page report by the three-member committee — comprising former Chief Justice Lodha, Justice Ashok Bhan and Justice R V Raveendran — former judges of the Supreme Court — also suggested changes in BCCI’s administrative set-up, proposing a chief executive, assisted by a team of six professional managers, to handle the day-to-day non-cricketing affairs.
The Lodha committee has sought to put some restrictions on the BCCI office-bearers: They should not be aged more than 70, should not be ministers or government servants, and cannot hold office for more than three terms, with a “cooling-off” period between terms.
The panel said the CEO and his managers will be responsible to an apex council that will comprise nine members — five elected, two representatives of players association, and one woman.
Issues related to selection, coaching, performance evaluation and umpiring are to be handled by cricket committees staffed only by former players.
“A very important step towards improving the lot of the players is to give them a voice to raise their concerns and have them discussed with the BCCI,” the panel suggested.
“Greater participation of players will bring transparency to the game and it is in interest of broadcasters, sponsors and the fans,” said Hitesh Gossain, former senior vice-president at Percept Talent.
The panel also suggested limiting the autonomy of IPL, adding that its governing council should be reduced to nine members with the secretary and the treasurer of BCCI as ex-officio members and two other members to be nominated or elected by the full members.
Of the remaining five, two would be the nominees of franchises, one would be a representative of the players’ association (that is to be formed) and one would a nominee of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
The committee said there was lack of evidence against former IPL chief operating officer (COO) Sundar Raman in connection with the 2013 spot-fixing and betting scandal.
The panel stressed that one representation for one state is a fair idea as was the suggestion that each state will have only one association as a full member of the BCCI and have a right to vote. Other members from a state, or those without territory or competitive presence —Services, Railways, CCI, NCC — should be relegated to associate status without voting rights in the BCCI.
Shaken by the Lodha committee’s recommendations, a cautious BCCI is mulling the option of challenging them in the Supreme Court. “I haven’t seen the report and I would not answer any queries unless I read the complete report of the Lodha panel,” BCCI president Shashank Manohar said.
None of the officials want to come on record till the matter is heard in the apex court. “Some suggestions are direct infringement on the autonomy of the board. It was Sharad Pawar, under whose leadership BCCI introduced pension scheme for players. Pawar is still active in Indian politics. You can’t stop him for simply being older than 70 years,” a BCCI official told PTI.
Legalising betting
Lodha panel has recommended legislature for legalising betting and an “in-built mechanism” to ensure that players and administrators don’t bet on matches.
According to experts, cricket satta (illegal betting) in India could be as much as Rs 3 lakh crore a year. On an average, daily turnover of Rs 100 crore is seen by cricket satta in Mumbai alone. Rest of the country sees average daily turnover of Rs 900 crore. Cricket matches are played for 300 days in a year across the world. “To ensure they don’t involve in betting, they have to disclose their assets to the BCCI. It can only be done through betting houses which will have to take licences. Any misconduct by them will result in cancellation of those licences,” says the report.
Earlier, on the committee’s recommendations, Rajasthan and Chennai were kicked out of the IPL for two seasons, while life bans were handed out to two key officials, for their involvement in illegal betting. If betting is legalised, Ladbrokes, a British company through which people across the world place bets on EPL matches, Ashes and Fifa World Cup, could enter India.
The proposals include separate governing bodies for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Indian Premier League (IPL), in a bid to partially segregate their functioning, bringing BCCI under the Right to Information (RTI), limiting age and tenures for officials, legalising betting, uniformity in structure of state associations, and a one-state, one-member (vote) pattern for the BCCI governing body. “People have the right to know the functions, facilities and other activities (of BCCI) and, therefore, we have recommended that the legislature must seriously consider bringing BCCI within the purview of RTI Act,” Justice Lodha said.
The 159-page report by the three-member committee — comprising former Chief Justice Lodha, Justice Ashok Bhan and Justice R V Raveendran — former judges of the Supreme Court — also suggested changes in BCCI’s administrative set-up, proposing a chief executive, assisted by a team of six professional managers, to handle the day-to-day non-cricketing affairs.
The Lodha committee has sought to put some restrictions on the BCCI office-bearers: They should not be aged more than 70, should not be ministers or government servants, and cannot hold office for more than three terms, with a “cooling-off” period between terms.
The panel said the CEO and his managers will be responsible to an apex council that will comprise nine members — five elected, two representatives of players association, and one woman.
Issues related to selection, coaching, performance evaluation and umpiring are to be handled by cricket committees staffed only by former players.
“A very important step towards improving the lot of the players is to give them a voice to raise their concerns and have them discussed with the BCCI,” the panel suggested.
“Greater participation of players will bring transparency to the game and it is in interest of broadcasters, sponsors and the fans,” said Hitesh Gossain, former senior vice-president at Percept Talent.
The panel also suggested limiting the autonomy of IPL, adding that its governing council should be reduced to nine members with the secretary and the treasurer of BCCI as ex-officio members and two other members to be nominated or elected by the full members.
Of the remaining five, two would be the nominees of franchises, one would be a representative of the players’ association (that is to be formed) and one would a nominee of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
The committee said there was lack of evidence against former IPL chief operating officer (COO) Sundar Raman in connection with the 2013 spot-fixing and betting scandal.
The panel stressed that one representation for one state is a fair idea as was the suggestion that each state will have only one association as a full member of the BCCI and have a right to vote. Other members from a state, or those without territory or competitive presence —Services, Railways, CCI, NCC — should be relegated to associate status without voting rights in the BCCI.
Shaken by the Lodha committee’s recommendations, a cautious BCCI is mulling the option of challenging them in the Supreme Court. “I haven’t seen the report and I would not answer any queries unless I read the complete report of the Lodha panel,” BCCI president Shashank Manohar said.
None of the officials want to come on record till the matter is heard in the apex court. “Some suggestions are direct infringement on the autonomy of the board. It was Sharad Pawar, under whose leadership BCCI introduced pension scheme for players. Pawar is still active in Indian politics. You can’t stop him for simply being older than 70 years,” a BCCI official told PTI.
Legalising betting
Lodha panel has recommended legislature for legalising betting and an “in-built mechanism” to ensure that players and administrators don’t bet on matches.
According to experts, cricket satta (illegal betting) in India could be as much as Rs 3 lakh crore a year. On an average, daily turnover of Rs 100 crore is seen by cricket satta in Mumbai alone. Rest of the country sees average daily turnover of Rs 900 crore. Cricket matches are played for 300 days in a year across the world. “To ensure they don’t involve in betting, they have to disclose their assets to the BCCI. It can only be done through betting houses which will have to take licences. Any misconduct by them will result in cancellation of those licences,” says the report.
Earlier, on the committee’s recommendations, Rajasthan and Chennai were kicked out of the IPL for two seasons, while life bans were handed out to two key officials, for their involvement in illegal betting. If betting is legalised, Ladbrokes, a British company through which people across the world place bets on EPL matches, Ashes and Fifa World Cup, could enter India.
