The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s claim that the Sports Ministry did not send the proforma applications and cicrular seeking names for Arjuna and other important awards, appears to have some merit as the notice sent by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports does not mention the cricket Board.
The latest development is a reflection of the cold war that is raging between the two sides. As a result, cricketers and cricket coaches do not figure in the list of nominees for the awards for the year 2011.
The BCCI’s assertion that it has not received any circular or proforma from the government has been vindicated as the circular by the ministry -- dated January 23, 2012 and No. 4-2/2012-SP-IV -- states that the application format of the awards were sent to all the presidents and secretaries general of all the National Sports Federations (NSFs).
BCCI is not an NSF in the list of sports ministry and that is specifically the ‘reason’ why the cricket body never received the government circular.
The BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale in a statement on Thursday said they did not send any nominations for the awards because the Board did not receive any forms from the Sports Ministry. “We wish to clarify that unlike every year, the BCCI has not received any forms for nominating cricketers for the Arjuna and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awards of the Government of India. It has been the practice of the Sports Ministry to send the forms well in advance to the BCCI to nominate in the given format, which includes the players’ acceptance and the BCCI’s recommendation.”
The Sports Ministry, however, insisted it had informed all the sports federations, including the BCCI, and reminded over telephone in mid-April to send the nominations by April 30.
