‘BCCI needs sweeping reforms’

By Vijay Mohan Raj On the auspicious occasion of the 75th Anniversary of the Independence of India It calls for a personal resolution that I have offered to make. My Independence is to express myself through thoughts, words and deeds without fear and inhibitions. As an individual sportsman who has been influenced in life by factors that […]

By Vijay Mohan Raj

On the auspicious occasion of the 75th Anniversary of the Independence of India It calls for a personal resolution that I have offered to make.

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My Independence is to express myself through thoughts, words and deeds without fear and inhibitions. As an individual sportsman who has been influenced in life by factors that have compelled me to curb my natural reactions to circumstances, forced restraint under the garb of diplomacy and that has strangulated my independence to do or say things as I would have wished to do.

As my specialization in sport has been cricket I would fire the first salvo by launching a debate on the legality of the existence of the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI).

This subject arises from the premise that the parent body (BCCI) is a collection of various State associates who are the constituents that result in the formation of the Board. These thirty plus constituents are legally bound to be operated in a democratic manner within the legal frame work of the Societies Act which is a common framework that is binding to all institutions of the country.

The crux of the matter is that not only the parent body but also most of these constituents are infested with gross violations of the laws that govern their existence.

It is common knowledge that the BCCI is considered as one of the richest sports bodies in the world. As a consequence it would be sacrilege to bring about any such situation by anybody that would abort the “raking in of the Moolah”. As a consequence politicians, administrators and now even the players past and present are in the business of grabbing every opportunity to make a fast buck by “hook or crook”.

On this auspicious day I would like to commence a tirade on the “vulgar” and “obscene” plundering of wealth that is taking place by administrators and officials of State associations under the garb of development of the game of cricket in their respective jurisdictions.

My vision is that to bring in sweeping reforms by the intervention of the political and judicial systems in the BCCI which should not be “cosmetic “as was attempted by the Justice Lodha Committee. It is common knowledge that the administrators have successfully subverted even these half-baked reforms to ensure that they continue their power hungry escapades unabated.

I do hope that the legality of the very existence of the organisation is debated by all the stake holders. My regret at this juncture has been that although several international and national cricketers got an opportunity to run the game at many levels they got sucked into this “tsunami “of power mongering. Total failures in rectifying the system.

(Writer is a former Hyderabad and Mumbai Ranji Trophy Cricketer)