BCCI to discuss Lodha Panel report at Special General Body Meeting

The BCCI on Friday announced that it will convene a Special General Body Meeting (SGM) in the third week of this month to discuss the recommendations of the Supreme Court-appointed Justice RM Lodha Committee on restructuring.

The Supreme Court this week asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to let it know by March 3 whether it would implement the recommendations of the three-member panel.

The apex court-appointed Justice R.M. Lodha Committee has made a host of far-reaching recommendations for improving cricket administration in the country. The panel suggested a limited period term for BCCI office-bearers with a cooling off period and separate governing bodies for the BCCI and the Indian Premier League (IPL).

It also recommended the BCCI be brought under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, betting be legalised, uniformity in structure of state associations, and a one-state-one-member (vote) pattern for the board's governing body.

BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said that the every state association has been asked to look into the Lodha panel recommendations and make suggestions. He added that the board's legal committee will meet again on February 7 and an SGBM has been called in the third week of February to discuss the report.

BCCI not looking for escape route: Anurag Thakur

"The BCCI is not looking for an escape route. We believe in transparency and accountability. In the last nine months, we have done things which would indicate that we are in the right direction]," he said.

"The Lodha Committee has recommended many things but every member has the right to look into the recommendations," Thakur said at a press conference where he also announced the squads for the Asia Cup and World T20.

He said the BCCI is one of the best sports bodies across the world and its good work must not be discounted.

"When India won the 1983 World Cup, we (BCCI) did not have any money to pay our champion team. But now it is different.

“It is not that everything that has happened in the last 30-40 years in the BCCI has been all wrong. So while taking any step, that should also be taken into account," Thakur reasoned.

“Paying for the mistakes of the past”

Thakur, the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Member of Parliament from Himachal Pradesh, admitted that the board is paying the price for the wrong policies under former boss N. Srinivasan, under whose reign, the allegations of tweaking the BCCI constitution, financial wrong-doings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and illegal betting and spot-fixing were made.

"We are paying the price for the mistakes made in the past. What happened was a loss of face and credibility.

“Lack of decision-making during that regime also hurt the image of the board," Thakur reasoned.

"But in the last nine months, we have tried to restore the image of the board. Everyone knows who caused damage and who restored the image."