CoA stops BCCI from serving notice to ICC

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The BCCI’s Committee of Administrators (CoA) has stopped a segment of the board from sending a legal notice to the ICC as part of the fallout of last week’s ICC Board meeting. Though the specifics of the legal complaint are not clear, it was to broadly express discontent with the events of the meeting and referred to the implications of the Members Participation Agreement (MPA). A dozen state associations organised a conference call on Tuesday in which they agreed to send the notice, but their bid to do so was quashed by an email from the CoA which pointed out that no notice could be sent by the BCCI on its own.

Ever since the Indian board was outvoted at the ICC last week on a new financial model as well as constitutional changes, speculation has grown about how the BCCI will react. One option on the table is for the BCCI to revoke the MPA, which governs member participation in ICC events. It is a drastic step and, if it were to be taken, it would not only mean India pulling out of the Champions Trophy, but also that they will not play in or host any ICC tournaments for the remainder of the rights cycle that stretches to 2023. On Tuesday, this option seemed like it might become a reality, until the CoA stepped in.

The process began when, at about 9am, Amitabh Choudhary, the acting BCCI secretary, phoned CoA chairman Vinod Rai to inform him that some BCCI members were keen to organise a conference call to discuss whether or not to send the ICC a legal notice. An hour later, former BCCI president Anurag Thakur weighed in, speaking to Rai and arguing in favour of the BCCI sending the notice. This was the first time, incidentally, that Thakur has spoken to the CoA since he was asked to step down as the BCCI president by the Supreme Court in January.

Rai was clear, however, that the BCCI could not send such a notice. His advice to both Choudhary and Thakur was the notice could only be sent in case all 30 state associations voted “unanimously” at the special general body meeting (SGM), which is scheduled for May 7 and has been called specifically to discuss the ICC’s decisions, the MPA and India’s participation in next month’s Champions Trophy. Rai said any decision specifically on withdrawing from the Champions Trophy should only be taken at the SGM. Rai told Choudhary he would need to show in writing that it was the unanimous decision of all 30 BCCI members to send the notice.

The conference call went ahead regardless, at the insistence of some members. According to one state association head in attendance, the entire process was fairly abrupt: some association heads received a SMS only an hour before the call started. The call itself lasted about 20 minutes. Choudhary, Anirudh Chaudhry (the BCCI treasurer), former board president N Srinivasan and Anand Jaiswal (Vidarbha Cricket Association president) were among the 12 members present on the call.

It is understood only Jaiswal objected to the proposal to send the legal notice right away. He pointed out that the state associations been served with copies of the MPA and that there was no “tearing hurry” to serve the notice. He insisted there needed to be discussion, and the BCCI members needed to understand the pros and cons of any such decision. He argued that it was prudent to wait for the SGM.

Choudhary also felt it was probably not the most appropriate time, given the IPL was ongoing. But the others strongly supported the notice being sent as soon as possible.

Immediately after the call, the decision was circulated to all state associations. Ruffled at not being told about the call and unhappy with the decision, a number of state associations quickly approached Rai. He told the BCCI office bearers that no notice could be sent without the CoA being consulted. “All letters, notices and other correspondence on behalf of the BCCI which seek to invoke or exercise any rights/remedies under the Members Participation Agreement entered into between the BCCI and the ICC Business Corporation FZ-LLC shall only be issued with the prior approval of the Committee of Administrators,” the COA wrote in a note, which was published by the Hindu. “The direction in Paragraph 1 above shall also apply to letters, notices and other correspondence which seek to invoke or exercise any rights/remedies against the International Cricket Council.”

According to an official privy to conversations between Rai and the BCCI office bearers, the CoA said adopting a “hardened” stance could jeopardise dialogue with the ICC, which was at a delicate and critical stage. “He [Rai] advised them that it was not in the best interests of BCCI because Shashank Manohar has made an offer of a $100 million more. You send him a notice, his attitude will harden. He might withdraw that,” the official said.

Rai will not be attending the SGM. The office bearers, the state associations and BCCI CEO Rahul Johri will be present at the SGM.

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Source: ESPN Crickinfo