BCCI convenes SGM on 19 February to discuss Lodha Committee recommendations

Trying to figure out a way forward after being told to “fall in line” with the Justice (Retd) R M Lodha Committee recommendations, the BCCI has convened a Special General Meeting on February 19 to discuss the far- reaching consequences of the report. Confirming the development, a source in the Mumbai Cricket Association, an affiliate of the BCCI, said the association has received the notice for the February 19 SGM from the Board. [caption id=“attachment_2620542” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File picture of BCCI logo. Reuters[/caption] “The SGM has been convened to have a discussion on the implementation of the Lodha Committee report,” said the source. Two other items on the special agenda of the SGM are “discussion on financial structure of the Member Boards of ICC (International Cricket Council) and the report of the Affiliation Committee of its visit to Chhattisgarh.” The far-reaching effect on the implementation of the Lodha Committee’s recommendations calling for sweeping reforms in the BCCI’s structure and the subsequent scathing observation on the matter by the Supreme Court which has shaken the Board members, is set to dominate the SGM. Among the recommendations are limitation of tenure for the Board’s office-bearers, prescription to limit their age to 70 years, one state-one vote (set to directly affect the associations within the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat) and barring of ministers and government officials from becoming office-bearers. After the meeting of its Legal Committee last Sunday with BCCI President Shashank Manohar attending it, it was decided to convene a SGM to discuss the implementation of the Lodha Committee’s recommendations. It was decided that the SGM was needed to be convened to get the views of the BCCI’s various affiliates before it responds to the Supreme Court on the issue. The other major point of discussion at the SGM will be the recent decision of the ICC to scrap the controversial constitutional amendments, which gave executive clout and financial power to India, Australia and England. The Shashank Manohar-led ICC Board has recommended a complete overhaul of the current power structure in the meeting held in Dubai earlier this month. In its first meeting of 2016 after Manohar took over as ICC Chairman, the world body’s Board agreed that the current system, put in place by controversial former head N Srinivasan, needed to be done away with. The Manohar-led ICC has suggested a complete review of the constitutional changes made in 2014 by Srinivasan which gave enormous powers to the ‘Big Three’ with the bulk of the share of the ICC’s revenue going the troica’s way. “The Board agreed to approve changes to the terms of reference of the Finance & Commercial Affairs Committee and Executive Committee so as to remove the permanent positions for the nominees of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Cricket Australia (CA) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on these committees, and to allow fair access to membership for all Full and Associate Member directors, with the sole criteria being the skill, competence and experience of the relevant director,” said the ICC in a statement released after the meeting earlier this month. “To that end, the present composition of the committees will be reviewed in their entirety in June 2016,” the release stated. With the BCCI’s revenue set to take a considerable hit following this decision of the ICC, some affiliates could oppose the proposed new ICC financial structure at the SGM. PTI