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The COA is particularly unhappy about what transpired at ICC meetings where the Champions Trophy was scrapped. © Agencies
In a fresh dig at BCCI office-bearers, the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (COA) has expressed its displeasure at being kept in dark about the ICC Champions Trophy being replaced by World T20. The COA has also questioned BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary’s recent visit to Bhutan with his executive assistant.
In a letter to Choudhary, a copy of which is with TOI, COA has sought an explanation from Choudhary by July 4 since foreign visits of executive assistants have been specifically forbidden except for ICC/ACC meetings.
While the letter largely revolves around Choudhary’s Bhutan visit, which was supposedly made to survey the availability of cricketing equipment, grounds and suitability of soil/clay available for preparation of pitches, the COA is particularly unhappy about what transpired at ICC meetings where the Champions Trophy was scrapped.
“The COA has also not interfered with your travel for ICC and ACC meetings. This is despite the fact that you never briefed us in advance of the agenda items proposed to be discussed in these meetings or took its mandate for the discussions or even bothered to keep the CoA updated on what transpired in these meetings. One important development that the CoA was completely kept in the dark was the replacement of the Champions Trophy 2021 with an additional ICC World T20 event,” the letter stated.
The observation yet again puts the role of the COA in focus and how the BCCI is being currently administered. Interestingly, BCCI CEO Rahul Johri reports directly to the COA and also represents BCCI at ICC meetings.
A senior BCCI official, however, questioned CoA’s missive to the acting secretary. “Why is Choudhary blamed alone for not briefing the COA? They stay in touch with Johri. They could have asked him about what’s happening. This means they have not defined the roles properly.”
“The CoA is confused about its powers. The ICC will never wait for BCCI before taking an important policy decision. When the BCCI office-bearers tried to bat for Champions Trophy, they found no support from the men who run the show in BCCI now. Is the COA saying they want to be part of ICC matters now?” the official asked.
This episode is the latest in the ongoing feud between BCCI office-bearers and COA.
