The Committee of Administrators (CoA) has told the BCCI full members that “It is not in the interests of Indian cricket for the BCCI to take any drastic step/measure which may result in breakdown of negotiations between the BCCI, ICC and other cricket boards, especially since there is sufficient time between now and the ICC Conference to be held in June 2017 for a negotiated outcome to be arrived at.”
The CoA was referring to the BCCI’s intention to invoke the Members Participation Agreements for ICC events, following the ICC’s decision to go ahead with administrative changes from July 2017.
In a missive mailed to the full members on Wednesday, the CoA has said: “We trust that the members of BCCI will take a mature and well-considered decision at the SGM which protects the interests of Indian cricket as a whole. We will extend all possible cooperation and support to such a decision and will stand firmly with the members of BCCI in that regard.
“However, in the extremely unlikely event that the decision of the members of BCCI at the SGM is one which, in our view, is against the interests of Indian cricket, we would be duty-bound to bring such decision to communicate our views to the Hon’ble Supreme Court and seek its intervention in the matter as also to take such other steps that we consider necessary to protect the interests of Indian cricket.”
No invoking MPA
The CoA believes that under no circumstances the BCCI can invoke the 2014 MPA which will result in India’s abstention from all ICC events beginning with next month’s ICC Champions Trophy and women’s World Cup till ICC’s signature competitions till 2023.
The purpose of communicating to the full members, the CoA has pointed out, was to “put all relevant factors and issues in their proper perspective” in the specific matter related to the administrative structures (Constitution and Financial) that that has taken different contours since 2014.
The CoA highlighted the following in the letter:
1. Position taken by CoA member Vikram Limaye at the ICC Board meeting on February 4, 2017.
2. CoA’s point of view sent to the ICC on March 19 specifying the BCCI’s rights to exercise certain rights under the MPA and to avail remedies under applicable law.
3. It asked the CEO to obtain necessary legal opinion(s) from appropriate foreign lawyers on the matter and that the legal opinion has already been shared with the existing office-bearers of the BCCI.
4. It had discussions with other cricket boards, but no commitment whatsoever was made by it on behalf of the BCCI either to the ICC or to any other cricket board.
5. The other cricket boards communicated to the CoA that the events which transpired in 2014 had led to an immense trust deficit between them and the BCCI and there was a need for trust-building in order to work together going forward.
The four-member CoA has expressed in its 15-point note that a negotiated settlement (within parameters akin to those set out during an earlier SGM on February 19, 2016) should have been the way forward at the ICC Board meeting in Dubai instead of asking the ICC to defer taking a decision or vote against the changes and that it had communicated “its apprehension regarding the lack of flexibility available to the acting Secretary to negotiate when it met him on April 21, 2017.”
