Srinivasan to attend ICC meeting in Dubai

Despite having been sidelined from BCCI affairs following a Supreme Court directive, N Srinivasan will attend the ICC executive board meeting, to be held in Dubai on April 9 and 10, in his capacity as a BCCI "representative." While BCCI interim president Shivlal Yadav said he has "no comment on this" and secretary Sanjay Patel didn't respond to queries, a senior BCCI official confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that Srinivasan "will attend the ICC Board meeting".

While splitting the BCCI presidency between Sunil Gavaskar (IPL affairs) and Yadav for other issues, the two-judge bench of the Supreme Court had declined to pass an order in relation to Srinivasan's role in ICC affairs, saying it was an "internal" matter of the BCCI.

In normal practice, the BCCI president is inducted onto the ICC board as a Director while the secretary attends the ICC Chief Executives Committee meetings. At every Annual General Meeting (AGM), it is the BCCI president who nominates the Board's representative at ICC meetings. At the last BCCI held in Chennai on September 29, 2013, it is understood the issue of an ICC representative had been discussed and it was verbally decided that "Srinivasan will continue to be in the (ICC) executive board and Patel in the CEC." The minutes of the AGM have, however, not yet been circulated among the BCCI members.

Srinivasan's position in the ICC, as one of its directors, can be questioned under various ICC regulations in the light of the Supreme Court observations and orders around the BCCI's handling of the IPL 2013 corruption case. In theory, any member can raise questions pertaining to two clauses in the ICC's constitution -

"(1) he is guilty of any dishonesty, gross misconduct or wilful neglect of duty (whether by act or omission); or (2) in the reasonable opinion of the Executive Board, he commits (whether by act or omission) any act which brings or would tend to bring the Council into disrepute; or (3) he conducts himself in a manner materially adverse to the interests of the Council."

The ICC has remained tightlipped over the issue ever since India's Supreme Court directive had Srinivasan removed from his official position, repeatedly saying, it has "no comments at this stage." Other than merely attending the meetings this week, Srinivasan's involvement in the ICC extends towards taking over as its first chairman in June this year. Under the new ICC constitutional amendments to be made this June, "the initial chairman of the ICC… shall be the nominee on the ICC Board of the BCCI (or nominees of the BCCI if the original nominee is replaced by the BCCI as its nominee on the ICC Board during this period.")

The BCCI remains confident that not only have they acquired the apex court's approval for Srinivasan to continue with his ICC responsibilities but also that there will be no protest from within the ICC Board itself towards the ICC chairmanship.An ECB spokesman said the issue of Srinivasan attending the meeting had, "nothing to do with us." The terms of reference required for anyone to sit on the Board, he said, "is that they are a nomination from their home board. The ECB have no role to play in that decision. It is a matter for the BCCI who attends an ICC meeting."

Hours after the Supreme Court order, Patel had said that Srinivasan will remain BCCI's representative at the ICC. Since then, the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA) has requested the ICC to sideline Srinivasan from the executive board and to not allow him to take over as the ICC chairman in July. "Serious allegations of betting and spot-fixing in IPL 2013 have been made against Mr Gurunath Meiyappan as the alleged team principal of Chennai Super Kings and these remain the subject of proceedings before the Indian Supreme Court," he said. "Mr Srinivasan is the managing director of Indian Cements Limited [the owner of the Chennai Super Kings] and is also the father-in-law of Mr Meiyappan," FICA chief executive Paul Marsh had said.

"The Supreme Court order from last Friday noted that Mr Srinivasan had made a written offer through his legal counsel to step aside from his functions as BCCI President until investigations into the allegations against him were completed. The Supreme Court has issued an interim order prohibiting any employees of India Cements Limited (other than players or commentators) from performing any duties for the BCCI. FICA understands that the order applies to Mr Srinivasan, as managing director of the company."