BCCI on edge as Lodha panel submits its report today

Committee likely to suggest sweeping changes in Board

Trying to rebuild its tattered image after a spate of controversies, the BCCI is waiting anxiously for the Justice Lodha Committee’s report which is set to recommend a host of reforms for the cricket body on Monday.

While the three-member committee comprising Justice (Retd) RM Lodha, Justice (Retd) Ashok Bhan and Justice (Retd) RV Raveendran is set to submit its report to the Supreme Court, the BCCI will be keenly watching the proceedings as to whether the Apex Court makes the recommendations binding or not.

There are reports in some quarters that the panel may recommend that politicians should not be part of the Board which is run as a society registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act.

The executive functionaries are all honorary office-bearers with most of the top state cricket associations being run by either a politician, or a bureaucrat or a heavyweight industrialist.

A handful of state associations that have top cricketers at key positions are Karnataka State Cricket Association (Brijesh Patel, secretary), Cricket Association of Bengal (Sourav Ganguly, president), Mumbai Cricket Association (Dilip Vengsarkar, vice-president), Hyderabad Cricket Association (Arshad Ayub, president) and Delhi and District Cricket Association (Chetan Chauhan, executive chairman).

The second contentious issue that probably will be dealt with in the report is the ‘Conflict of Interest’.

The committee may also suggest making IPL a separate private limited company under section-8 which has to reinvest all its profits.

Among the major points on governance structure, it needs to be seen if the all-powerful working committee may be done away with suggestions about having a paid Board of Directors.

The most contentious issue would be the committee’s recommendations on politicians, who occupy top positions in the Board.

Already resentful of any such move, a lot of members in the BCCI have already started saying it is tough to ensure that only ex-players can prove to be good administrators.

They feel French football legend and now tainted former UEFA boss Michel Platini is an example of how things may go haywire even if a top player comes into administration.

If there are sweeping changes suggested which are legally binding, then there could be an administrative shake up just before the marquee ICC World T20.