BCCI to conduct Special General Meeting on Friday, ratification of players’ contracts tops agenda
Under the new compensation structure, five ‘A+’ category players get Rs 7 crore each per annum, while seven Grade A, seven Grade B and as many Grade C cricketers are on annual retainer fee of Rs 5 crore, Rs 3 crore and Rs 1 crore each respectively.
The Supreme Court-appointed Committee Of Administrators (CoA) announced the new annual players’ contract for the 2017-18 season on 7 March but a final decision will be taken when the members meet in Delhi on Friday in BCCI’s Special General Meeting (SGM).
deciding on the contracts of international players, domestic players and match officials is among the top of agenda for the meeting.
It is little surprising that despite announcing the contracts in March, they haven’t been finalised yet. When asked about the delay in proceedings, a senior BCCI official highlighted the importance of following certain protocols.
“The players are undoubtedly the priority of the board. But, you have to realise that there are certain protocols that need to be followed and decisions need ratifications and that is why this delay,” he was quoted as saying in the report.
The BCCI had announced a new grade system — Grade A+ apart from the regular Grade A, Grade B and Grade C.
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shikhar Dhawan and Jasprit Bumrah were the players named in the Grade A+ list.
Under the new compensation structure, five ‘A+’ category players get Rs 7 crore each per annum, while seven Grade A, seven Grade B and as many Grade C cricketers are on annual retainer fee of Rs 5 crore, Rs 3 crore and Rs 1 crore each respectively.
“Why did they (COA) bring in a new category? The idea was to compensate the Test specialists, who don’t have the IPL contracts, adequately. And if the top bracket is exclusively for those who are regulars in all three formats, then what would be the adjustments like, if someone is dropped from a particular form of the game?” asked a BCCI official.
He felt that India’s socio-economic structure makes such pay rise exponential. “Also, the BCCI office-bearers had been kept in the dark in the whole process,” he complained. The new compensation structure, too, bypassed the general body.
That apart, they could also disapprove the appointment of the new anti-corruption (ACU) head, Ajit Singh. The CoA okayed the appointment of Singh, a former Director of General Police, Rajasthan, as the new ACU head in March, replacing Neeraj Kumar. It didn’t go down well with a large section of the cricket board. As per the existing BCCI constitution, every Board appointment requires ratification from the general body to be effective. Singh’s employment doesn’t have the members’ rubber stamp yet. “There’s every chance that the members might not agree to the appointment of the new ACU head. The COA can’t take such a decision without calling an SGM.”
Apart from finalising contracts, updating and deciding on matters pertaining to commercial rights and sponsorships of the BCCI is also likely to come up for discussion.
The SGM is also expected to deliberate on the T20 tournaments hosted and organised by state associations, and decide on all matters pertaining to the National Cricket Academy (NCA), its programs, and all matters pertaining to the proposed new NCA headquarters.
Apart from deciding on the contract of the players, the other agendas of the meeting as mentioned in the letter are:
• Update on and to consider and decide on matters pertaining to commercial rights and sponsorships of the BCCI.
• To consider and to take decisions on matters pertaining to the ICC including but not limited to revenues and the Members Participation Agreement.
• Update on and to consider and decide on the matter relating to dispute raised by PCB in the ICC DRC.
• To consider and to decide on matters pertaining to Committees and Sub – Committees of the BCCI, and other decisions of policy nature of the BCCI.
• To consider and decide on matters pertaining to appointments and Human Resources of the BCCI.
• To consider and decide on legal matters and on the matter of legal representation of the BCCI in various forums generally and in specific matters.
• To consider and to take decisions on all matters pertaining to the National Cricket Academy, its programs, and all matters pertaining to the proposed new National Cricket Academy Head Quarters.
• To consider and to take decisions on all matters of cricket operations including those relating to the Domestic Season (2018-19.)
• To consider and to take decisions on the T20 Tournaments hosted and organized by State Associations.
Interestingly, the mail clearly mentions that the meeting has been called after receiving requisitions from state associations and that the agendas are set as per those very requisitions. This after the CoA had objected to the holding of the SGM and a letter war followed between the committee and BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary.
“Ankit Vaishnav”
