BCCI’s senseless bravado has invited trouble

The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) run-in with the Supreme Court was headed in just one direction but BCCI was not willing to see reason.

Having pompous politicians as front and back-end support, BCCI was being egged on to take on the top court and they tested the latter’s patience to the hilt.

Finally, the long rope that the apex court gave as a matter of grace was used by BCCI to hang itself. And, in what has turned out to be a final nail in BCCI’s coffin, the SC has held that BCCI president Anurag Thakur may have committed perjury by filing a false affidavit and might land in jail, if the perjury is proved.

BCCI has been adept at playing games. They have become experts in speaking untruth, cooking up proof, marshalling fake figures and balance sheets, handing out positions and money to a close coterie of friends and associates. In all of this, a select band of politicians and lawyers called the shots.

Each BCCI bigwig controlled a state association like a fiefdom. Yet, it kept trying to hoodwink the SC by saying that the state units were not accepting the July 18 judgement. On the issue of having a CAG nominee in BCCI, Thakur wanted to manage a letter from ICC which could be used to mislead SC by stating that the world body would chuck BCCI out from their fold if it accepted the SC judgement.

Actually, BCCI was emboldened by the previous BCCI president obtaining a clean chit from a two-retired High Court judges’ panel, which had conducted a seemingly friendly probe in Gurunath Meiyappen’s conflict of interest case. One thing led to another and the Justice Lodha Committee was set up in 2015 after a betting scandal in the Indian Premier League to suggest changes in the way the BCCI was run.

The committee had made recommendations earlier this year that the top court approved and asked the BCCI to implement. The BCCI has, however, defiantly stated that it could not implement all the reforms including large-scale structural and management changes.

By constantly crying wolf and wringing their hands in despair each time there was a match or a decision to be taken, they forced SC to come down hard on BCCI. No one is going to cry over the sacking of BCCI’s top brass since the board had unfortunately been taken over by vested interests, petty businessmen and rootless politicians.

I will not be surprised if major scandals come tumbling out when TV rights and other major contracts of the past are scrutinised. I cannot thank the judges enough for what they have done for cricket and sports in India.

Clean all sports now

As many as 27 international sportspersons have already filed a writ petition in the SC seeking the replication of Justice Lodha Committee recommendations across all sports disciplines. The BCCI’s kind of arrogance is the order of the day in all sports associations.

In fact, Lodha panel guidelines will rid all sports bodies of permanent free-loaders who have no qualifications of being permanent lords of such sports organisations.

Successive governments have failed to protect the interest of young talented sportspersons and have actually allowed the long, self-serving mandarins to run riot in practically all sports bodies. All kinds of corruption has put paid to the careers of talented sportspersons and government’s grants/funds have been wasted.

I can now honestly say that my consistent stand against nefarious activities in Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) and BCCI has been vindicated.

Of course, I am left to defend several defamation cases filed by third parties at the behest of powerful politicians who wanted to muzzle my voice for long. I thank all the people — including my legendary captain Bishan Singh Bedi — who have supported me in my fight against corruption in DDCA and BCCI.