The Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) reiterated its view on Tuesday that former India captain Rahul Dravid has no “conflict of interest” (COI) issues in connection with his appointment as Head of the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.
The BCCI’s Ethics Officer Justice (retd.) D.K. Jain, following a complaint from Sanjeev Gupta, a life member of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association, has found it fit to seek a clarification from the former India under-19 and A-team coach about his employment terms with India Cements.
Thorn in the flesh
The COI issue has been a thorn in the flesh for the BCCI and former players who have shown interest in the development of Indian cricket activities. But the former Chief Justice of India R.M. Lodha, whose panel wrote the ‘Cricket in Reforms’ report, has dealt with the COI issues in detail and how it is affecting Indian cricket.
After the CoA meeting on Tuesday, Lt. Gen. (retd.) Ravi Thodge said: “There’s no conflict in Rahul (Dravid)’s case. We have cleared his appointment. If the Ombudsman (also the Ethics Officer) sees any conflict, we will have our response going to him. He has to consider it. It’s a process,” said Thodge.
Recently, CoA head Vinod Rai had also expressed the same view.
Delay possible
On the matter of the BCCI AGM and elections to be held on October 22, Thodge said that with more members showing interest to be in terms with the new BCCI Constitution, there could be delays. “We just took a review and most of them will join. I don’t see such a great difficulty. Some of them are yet to register their Constitutions. The intentions are to hold the elections around that time (October 22).”
Thodge also said that the BCCI has short-listed candidates for different coaching positions for the senior Indian team and that the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) in Kapil Dev, Aunshuman Gaekwad and Shantha Rangaswamy will conduct interviews to recommends names for the head coach of the Indian team.
About the lecture by Australian Simon Longstaff on ethics, Thodge said: “It was on governance. Ethics is important. Cricket was called a gentleman’s game before the betting scandal hit cricket.
“He was here and we spoke to him. He gave a lecture. It was not related to Indian cricket per se . It was a general talk. We are not saying there are any issues about ethics in Indian cricket.”
