The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Board to defy Lodha panel
Decision was made after the much-awaited special general body meeting was adjourned on Friday
ACCORDING TO a top Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) official, the board will, in all likelihood, reject the Lodha panel's recommendation in the special general body meeting, scheduled on Saturday.
A day after the apex court had come down heavily on the BCCI'S reluctance to accept several of the directives, going to extent of even threatening to constitute a separate committee to oversee the board, the BCCI is more or less resigned to losing its fight against the Lodha panel. Hence, they will decide to go for the broke in the meeting. "We will reject all recommendations. Anyway, we have no other option. Maane toh maare, na maane toh maare. (If we agree, we die. If we don’t, even then we die). So it's better to die on our terms. The house will defy the order," the official stated.
This statement of defiance was made after the much-awaited special general body meeting was adjourned on Friday as several state representatives turned up without proper 'letter of authority'.
“The authorisation letters of the representatives from various state associations have not reached, so they have been given one day's time to get the letters from their respective state associations,” informed IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla after the meeting.
Interestingly, for the first time ever, the board had asked each unit for a letter which specified that the person representing the respective association had full authority to take a decision on their behalf.
The Indian board will now reconvene on Saturday, which also means that the BCCI has missedthefirstdeadlinetoimplementthefirst set of recommendations prescribed by the Lodha committee. The Lodha Committee had asked the BCCI and its state associations to adopt the new Memorandum of Association and Rules and Regulations by September 30.
It's reliably learnt that with the meeting adjourned, president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke flew to Delhi for legal advice. The two are expected to convey to the members that opposing the court was their only option.
Going all out
“Many want the BCCI to go all out and not accept defeat. There are a few who are saying that the BCCI will look foolish if they go against the Supreme Court's order. The matter will be discussed on Saturday but it's firm that board will reject all the recommendations and let law take further action. Many members feel the court has been very harsh on them,” the source added.
The SC has already come hard on the BCCI for not accepting most of the reforms directed by the Lodha committee. “We know how to get our orders implemented. BCCI thinks it is the lord. You better fall in line or we will make you fall in line. The conduct of the BCCI is in poor taste,” Chief Justice of India, TS Thakur had said on Thursday.
However, not everyone seems to be on the same page within the board. The Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA), which was formerly headed by Shashank Manohar, has already confirmed that their association will accept all the recommendations and enforce the new Memorandum of Association and Rules and Regulation.
The VCA already called its special general body meeting on Friday in Nagpur and is the first state association to unilaterally accept the Lodha reforms. In fact, out of 730 votes, 727 voted for accepting the Lodha directives.