Can't implement reforms, state associations not in favour of proposal: BCCI tells Lodha panel
The Board of Control for Cricket in India said the committee's recommendations could not be followed unless three-fourth of its member bodies voted for it.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Saturday told the Justice Lodha Committee that it would not be able to implement the panel’s recommendations because of opposition from state associations, The Times of India reported. In an affidavit sent through email, the cricketing body said that it had made all efforts, including termination of funds, to initiate the Supreme Court-directed reforms, however, its member associations in various states had voted against the proposal.
In the affidavit, the BCCI said, "We are helpless in this regard. Unless three-fourth of the member associations vote in favour of the proposal, the BCCI cannot implement the reforms as ordered by the Justice Lodha panel." The affidavit was addressed to Justice Lodha committee secretary Gopal Sankaranarayanan. BCCI president Anurag Thakur (pictured above) and secretary Ajay Shirke also submitted a status report, and said, "Unless the member associations vote in favour of the resolution, there is little the board can suo motu do about it."
On November 4, reports suggested that the upcoming India-England series may have hit a roadblock on account of Thakur and Shirke failing to file affidavits with the Supreme Court. The BCCI officials were directed to submit affidavits about the board's implementation of the court-appointed Justice Lodha panel's suggestions in three weeks from October 21.
The Justice Lodha panel was formed by the apex court in January 2015 to look into the affairs of the BCCI, in the aftermath of the spot-fixing scandal in the 2013 edition of the Indian Premier League. The committee has recommended major reforms and an administrative rejig in the cricketing body, which the BCCI has refused to implement so far.