Bihar begs BCCI for money to host games

PATNA: The Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) has had to beg and borrow money from its office-bearers and their acquaintances to host the ongoing under-23 Northeast-Bihar zone cricket tournament among associate members of the BCCI.

Sikkim, Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Bihar are participating in the 12-day tournament in which 15 one-day matches will be played here between January 21 and February 1.

With no funds from BCCI, the BCA has had to avail of all facilities on credit to host the matches here. The Supreme Court had directed the BCCI not to release funds to states till they implement reforms suggested by the Lodha committee.

“We have taken on credit facilities like catering and transportation of players and officials. For meeting daily sundry expenditure, the BCA office-bearers have had to pool personal money or borrow from their acquaintances,” said BCA secretary Ravi Shankar Prasad Singh.

Besides, the BCA has also arranged accommodation of players in starred hotels on credit basis.

“The arrangement is such that the BCCI pays directly to the hotels where players and match officials stay. While booking hotels or availing of any credit facility, we inform our vendors or the hoteliers concerned that the BCCI would reimburse them the payment within a month or two,” said Singh.

The BCA is yet to get payment for the three Vijay Merchant Trophy (under-16) matches it hosted here in December. The BCA expects R9 lakh for the matches from the BCCI. BCA treasurer Ram Kumar said a private caterer the BCA had engaged for the December 2016 Cooch Behar Trophy match between Jharkhand and the Associate & Affiliate team, comprising Bihar and five north-eastern states of Sikkim, Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, had served a legal notice to the BCA for payment of dues.

Singh, however, said the BCCI had recently paid the BCA for the Cooch Behar Trophy match. The BCA had in 2009 received ~50 lakh as the last tranche of funds from the BCCI for development of cricket in Bihar, a year after it was recognised as an associate member of the BCCI, after being derecognised in 2001.