Members of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) were left disappointed on Tuesday (April 5) afternoon when the two-judge bench at the Supreme Court, comprising Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justice Ibrahim Kalifulla, criticised the board’s methods of disbursing funds to state associations. In a hearing that lasted close to an hour-and-a-half, the apex court said BCCI was disbursing funds to state associations without any particular mechanism, and pointed out 11 associations which were yet to receive any funding.
The 11 member associations listed out by the court are the Cricket Club of India, Railway Sports Promotion Board, Services Sports Control Board, National Cricket Club (Kolkata), Arunachal Pradesh Cricket Association, Meghalaya Cricket Association, Chhattisgarh State Cricket Sangh, Manipur Cricket Association, Nagaland Cricket Association, Bihar Cricket Association and the Jammu and Kashmir Association.
TOI spoke to some BCCI officials who appeared shocked at the SC’s viewpoint. Among other things, they pointed out that the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai and the National Cricket Club in Kolkata happen to be only voting members and do not play any role in the BCCI’s domestic circuit.
There is no cricket played in the northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur and Nagaland and these states have never made any attempts to nurture the game or make an attempt to bring about any cricketing activity in their respective regions.
So far, none of the northeastern states have come forward alleging any ignorance on part of the BCCI. “Those member associations being discussed for non-disbursal of payments are either a result of lack of submitting accounts in time, or their own internal politics or no cricketing activity whatsoever. This is like being targeted for no reason whatsoever,” a senior BCCI official said.
Railways and Services, claim BCCI sources, are government entities. Chhattisgarh State Cricket Sangh is a relatively new member that was given full-membership only last month. Moreover, Chhattisgarh had historically been part of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) and its new president Baldeo Singh told TOI last week that he was delighted the BCCI had taken note of the work that had been done in the region. Bihar Cricket Association happens to be in a mess where its own internal administration is concerned and its current secretary Mrutyunjay Tiwary admitted to TOI that before Bihar goes to BCCI asking for a grant, they need to put their own house in order.
There are other issues the BCCI is dealing with, sources pointed out, like the Rajasthan Cricket Association’s ongoing legal battle over tainted IPL commissioner Lalit Modi and the faction-fighting in the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA).