CoA chief Vinod Rai says India will have Players Association soon, will be independent from BCCI's functioning

New Delhi: India’s professional cricketers will officially become stakeholders in BCCI’s decision making policies as the much-awaited Players Association will be officially registered in the next two weeks. However as of now, the association may not be a member of international players’ association FICA. [caption id=“attachment_4451351” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of CoA chief Vinod Rai. AFP[/caption] The name sent for registration is Indian Cricketers’ Association (ICA) but the BCCI needs to check whether the same name is already registered or not. “Yes, the work for Indian Cricketers’ Association (ICA) has been sent for registration but first it needs to be checked whether the name is already registered. Once ICA or whatever be the name is registered, the central association will decide on their nominees (men and women) in the apex council,” Commitee of Administrators chief Vinod Rai told PTI on Wednesday. Rai also informed that the central association will have its “state chapters”. “Just like in BCCI apex council, the state chapter will decide on its representation in the state apex council. We are thankful to Kapil Dev, Bharath Reddy, Anshuman Gaekwad and former India women’s team captain Shantha Rangaswamy for putting in a lot of effort in formation of the association,” Rai said. But the ICA will not be a part of the FICA like the players associations in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa or England. “No, as of now, the BCCI constitution doesn’t have any clause where the ICA can be a part of FICA,” Rai said. The functioning of ICA will be independent of BCCI’s functioning and the association will have to generate their own funds even though BCCI will provide with some initial grants. “The BCCI will obviously provide some grant at the onset so that the association can start functioning but ultimately it will be up to the members to start generating funds,” Rai said. It is learnt that former Home secretary Gopal Krishna Pillai and lawyer Nandan Kamath will be helping set up the executive council of the players’ association.