The much-awaited players’ association of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is set to be called the Indian Cricketers Association and should be in place in the next two to three weeks.
The name has already been referred for registration and thebody is set to come into existence before the next annual general meeting (AGM)of the cricket board.
Speaking to IANS, a senior BCCI functionary said that thingswere under process and it should be a matter of a couple of weeks before Indiancricket has its players’ association as per the diktat of the Lodha panel.
“Indian Cricketers Association is the name and it hasbeen sent for registration. Once that is through, all the processes will start.We must have the players’ association before the next AGM of the BCCI. It willbe a sub-committee,” the functionary explained.
Commenting on the role of the players’ association, thefunctionary said: “Two people from the players’ association will benominated for the apex council. It will be completely different from thetechnical committee of the BCCI. The names for the executive committee willcome in only after the states register their constitution and conduct theirelections.”
The official said that all decisions regarding thecomposition of the players’ association will be taken by the steering committeewhich consists of Kapil Dev, Bharath Reddy, Anshuman Gaekwad and former Indiawomen’s team captain Shantha Rangaswamy.
“The number of players who will be part of theexecutive committee and their scope of work will be decided by the four membersalong with convenor G.K. Pillai. They also have a legal advisor in NandanKamath,” the functionary explained.
Noting on the need to have a players’ association, the Lodhapanel had said: “There shall be a Cricket Players’ Association affordingmembership to all international and most first class men and women retiredcricketers. This Association shall discharge assigned functions with thefinancial support of the BCCI. It shall be brought into existence by anindependent steering committee.”A senior BCCI executive though said that acouple of things needed to be kept in mind with regards to the formation of thesub-committee. “The real concern here is that this process has beenlimited to a very small group of people and this may give them a first moveradvantage over the other ex-players in making it to the BCCI’s apex council.Therefore the ones involved in the process must on all fairness cool off beforeparticipating in elections. There also seems to be no check on people suspectedof or punished for immoral conduct and anti-corruption violations,” theexecutive pointed.