Former women players left in the lurch as CoA, BCCI officials feud
Cheques to women cricketers have been approved by the CoA, the supreme body. They will be passed in due course
NEWDELHI: India’s women cricketers named recipients of one-time cash benefit have been left holding mere cardboards while the actual cheques are held up due to the feud between the Committee of Administrators and cricket Board officials.
The court-appointed CoA’s move to reward six women players ahead of the IPL opening ceremony in Mumbai on April 12 has proved the latest point of friction with the BCCI officials.
They were handed the placardsize cheques by Ravi Shastri during a ceremony at the Wankhede Stadium, but the actual cheques haven’t been issued due to a lack of clarity over approval.
Deepa Kulkarni, Sangita Dabir and Arundhati Ghosh got Rs 25 lakh each and Behroze Edulji, Sunita Singh and Vrinda Bhagat were given Rs 15 lakh each.
A top BCCI source, however, claimed the CoA took the decision without following procedure. As a result, the BCCI secretary and treasurer are yet to give their assent. Board CEO Rahul Johri reportedly gave his clearance at the last moment when he learnt about the issue. The players have been caught in the crossfire. “The CoA is supposed to only oversee (administration). By awarding cheques to women cricketers, they have taken a policy decision. That can be done only through a general body meeting. The BCCI officials weren’t apprised of it, so they haven’t given their approval,” a Board source privy to the deliberations between CoA and BCCI officials said.
“The cheques went to the treasurer (Anirudh Choudhary), who asked for the approval of secretary Amitabh Chaudhary and the CEO. The CEO gave his approval only on Thursday after he learnt about it. But there is no intimation from the secretary so far. Therefore, the treasurer hasn’t approved the amount.”
However, Johri told HT: “The cheques have been approved by the CoA, and it is the supreme body. They will be approved in due course. The CoA’s decision is mentioned in the minutes of the meeting where the decision was taken.”
However, Board officials feel the CoA rushed into the decision and could have at least adopted the procedure it followed while announcing cash prizes of Rs 50 lakh for the men’s team members after the Test series win over Australia. They had just made the announcement without handing cheque replicas.
The award of cheques has become further embroiled in controversy after it was learnt that CoA member and former India skipper Diana Edulji’s sister Behroze got the cheque despite having played just one Test. Others in the R15 lakh category, Sunita Singh (2 Tests, 18 ODIs) and Vrinda Bhagat (2 Tests and 11 ODIs) have better credentials.