Shashank Manohar, the new BCCI President, addressed the media
after his appointment and took time to outline his plans for the Board.
Manohar detailed various grievances in the board's functioning and
methods to tackle the same. Here are excerpts from his address:
Good
afternoon friends. The BCCI is a huge brand in itself. It was created
because of the love of the fans. Without the support of fans, it would
not have been possible for the sport to become this big. In the last few
days, the confidence of cricket lovers has been shaken due to certain
unpleasant things that have happened. But leaving that aside, it is the
duty of all the members of the board to
bring it (the board) back to its
original reputation. In the present scenario, I have to continue the
good work done by (Jagmohan) Dalmiya who had thought of certain reforms
but could not carry them out. I propose to take things forward with all
the help from the boards.
Conflict of interest:
The board will be form rules regarding conflict of interest for all
members and players within a month. An ethics officer, who will function
independent of the board, will be appointed to look into all issues
pertaining to conflict of interest.
Corruption in game: The
board will conduct programs to educate players. We would like to take
the help of government officials and see if we can get an investigative
body to help us. The board's hands are tied regarding investigative
powers. That (an investigative body) will help in restoring faith of
cricket fans.
Utilization of funds given to associations:
There is a lot of debate that associations are paid huge amounts of
money but no one knows how it is being used. Accounts of affiliates will
now be audited by an independent auditor appointed by the board. The
board can take any action upon the association if the money is not being
properly utilized.
Transparency: This has been
another grievance. I think this problem could be sorted out by putting
the constitution, the members and other such information on the official
website. Any expenditure made over 25 lakhs will also be put up on the
website with details like why it is being spent. At the end of the year
the balance sheet of the board can be made public and put on the
website. Nothing wrong is being done in the board but it is a perception
in the public that there is something wrong. Therefore to change the
perception we will do it immediately.
NCA: NCA
(National Cricket Academy) will be started again. The activities of NCA
are not up to the mark as on date. We want to make it functional all
through the year. (For example) Today there is talk that there are no
spinners in the country. So it is our duty to develop a second line of
spinners as replacements.
Women's cricket: We
would like to develop contracts for Women's cricketers that would
promote the game and so that more and more women players love to play
the game.
Records of the Board: As regards of
the different records of the Board, they will all be made available in
the headquarters. So that any member board can check it at any time if
they want to.
There is the World T20 happening in
March-April and our priority will be to conduct in a best possible
manner and that it is done in a transparent manner.
Voting powers:
I would assure you all that I would not exercise the chairman's vote
until the constitution is amended. The casting vote is still fine. But
the chairman's vote is something that I will not exercise.
We
have seen recently that there is a case of the minorities
(Associations) are converted to majorities. To address that, I would put
any dispute to the house and whatever be the majority decision in the
house would be mine too. I will assure you all that all this will be
implemented in two months time.
I need your support
to highlight the image to the public. It is also the duty of the media
to show that the game is clean and restore faith of the cricket fan.
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