Board, Government differ over who is in box seat

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has just two days left to firm up a Code of Conduct for the players before presenting it before the Union Minister for Sports, SS Dhindsa on 1 August. The Board committee appointed to draw up the code has been huddled in the company of senior Board officials since 29 July to review the draft they have prepared. However Board President AC Muthiah has been conspicuously absenting himself from these deliberations so far.

Board Secretary Jaywant Lele appeared to be singularly unconcerned about the government's encroachment into his bailiwick. "We are an autonomous body. We will finalize the code and submit it to the Government", he told reporters after coming out of the sitting in New Delhi. Lele went on to deny that the Code of Conduct committee was working under duress from the Sports Ministry. The convener of the committee, Kishore Rungta, added that after eliciting suggestions from the government, a later meeting would be held on 19 August to launch the code in its final form.

But events suggest that the Board's present course is not influenced by its own free will. Reacting swiftly, Minister of State for Sports, Syed Shahnawaz Hussain questioned, rhetorically one presumes, Lele's antecedents. "Who is Lele? He is not above the law", was Hussain's refrain. For his part Dhindsa, in his public statements, is also under no confusion that he is in charge.

Apart from the Code of Conduct report, Board officials, in their conclave in New Delhi, are also working on a 'vision' document which Dhindsa has been prodding them to release."I have also asked BCCI to give the Government a detailed report about utilization of the huge amount of funds at its command. I want the Board to outline their plans to use the funds for the development of the game of cricket as well as the plan to encourage and train young and budding cricketers", Dhindsa told Press Trust of India.

The Minister did not hide his dissatisfaction over the BCCI's tardiness on this count. "The BCCI officials had assured me on April 27 that they would submit a report within three months", he said. The indications are that the Board and the government could be bracing up for a frosty conference on August 1.