CoA asks states to pass resolution for obtaining funds

Anticipating appeals for funds for the ongoing domestic and international season in India, the Committee of Administrators (CoA) has asked the various state associations to fulfil a draft resolution, wherein they must affirm that they will comply with the Supreme Court order to implement the Lodha Committee's recommendations.

The CoA sent the draft resolution to the state associations, including the Associate BCCI member units, on Sunday. With India's home season having got underway earlier in September, many states have already approached the BCCI, as well as the court, asking for funds to pay for cricket operations for hosting matches. In addition to the various domestic tournaments, India's international commitments at home comprise a total of 11 ODIs, nine T20s and three Tests as they host Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka before departing for South Africa at the end of December.

On Monday, the court rejected the appeals of the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) and the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA), both of whom had approached the BCCI funds for separate reasons. While the SCA wanted about INR 83 lakhs for cricket expenses, MCA wanted funds to the tune of INR 4 crores, to pay off the installment against a longstanding bank loan.

Barring the Vidarbha Cricket Association, which approved the Lodha recommendations without any protest, no other BCCI member has complied with the court order so far. The CoA said despite the resistance, the BCCI had put forth, and will continue to make payments for the "conduct" of the cricket matches. The CoA also said it was "regrettable" that state associations continued to defy the court orders despite such a move having the "potential" to "prejudicially affect cricketing activity."

While the BCCI would continue to take care of the payments concerning cricket operations to third-party vendors, the CoA has said that going forward the state associations need to adopt the draft resolution. "In the hope that the defaulting State Associations would come around and comply with the orders passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court, a draft of the resolution that should be passed by the General Body (or an equivalent forum) of the State Association is enclosed," the CoA said in its e-mail. "By adopting this resolution, the State Associations will enable BCCI to release additional funds to them in a manner compliant with the orders passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court."