'No vote to exclude the ICC president': Ehsan Mani

There was a sudden twist in the tale in the report on the ousting of the ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya from the finance and marketing committee which appeared in the Sunday Telegraph on May 7. The chairman of the finance and marketing committee, Ehsan Mani has stated while talking to the same newspaper that "this was a decision about good governance, not about personalities. There was no vote to exclude the president from the finance and marketing committee, whose meetings he attends in his position as president." The sport's governing body is currently negotiating the sale of television rights for the 2003 World Cup in South Africa and the 2007 event in the West Indies.

Mani added that "What was decided was that, in order to protect the office of the president from any allegations, he will not form part of the subcommittee, which has been formed to hold detailed negotiations with the bidders. Once this subcommittee has finalised the bids, it will come back to the executive board over which the president presides. Indeed, I understand that just such a scenario is likely to unfold next month when the ICC meet to decide which bidder will win the broadcasting rights for the next two World Cups and several other ICC tournaments. Dalmiya will preside over this meeting."

Earlier ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya denied that he was removed from the ICC committee. Talking to the press on his return from Paris, Dalmiya said he would be moving court to sue the English newspaper 'Sunday Telegraph' for carrying an article which reported that he was ousted from the sport's governing body by its executive board. "I am applying to the Government of India tomorrow for sanction of foreign exchange to enable me to sue the concerned newspaper and the writer abroad," he said.

Dalmiya chaired the the two-day meeting which was held in Paris from May 4 to 6 and the decision was taken on the second day of the deliberations by the highly influential finance and marketing committee. Dalmiya said the decision was taken to protect the position of the president and the president-elect and future presidents "since baseless allegations were aired against the ICC president." He added "the (ICC) executive board quite rightly thought that the position of the president and the president-elect must be protected from such allegations,".

Dalmiya felt "the article has deliberately twisted facts to defame me." Describing such reports as "totally untrue and motivated,'' he said there was no such decision at the ICC's two-day emergency executive board meeting at Lords on May 2 and 3, according to a release issued by Dalmiya's office in Calcutta.

On May 7 the English newspaper had reported that "Jagmohan Dalmiya, president of the International Cricket Council (ICC), has been unceremoniously voted off the key finance committee of the sport's world governing body, the Telegraph can reveal." Lord MacLaurin, chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, who was at the meeting, said: "Sir John Anderson [the chairman of New Zealand Cricket] and I proposed that the president should not - now or in the future - take part in any financial negotiations on behalf of the board, and it was unanimously agreed."

Dalmiya said he was briefed about the article by the former BCCI president IS Bindra who incidentally was on the same flight with him. Dalmiya said "Bindra asked me whether I was in Paris. We don't talk much now and I answered 'yes' and he seemed surprised".

It may be noted that earlier in the week Dalmiya was accused of lack of probity in negotiating the contract for the broadcasting rights to the knockout tournament played in Dhaka in 1998.The ICC ``cleared'' Dalmiya of wrongdoing, saying he had ``played no part in the negotiations''. ICC chief executive David Richards told the Press on May 2: ``The President, Jagmohan Dalmiya, was not involved in negotiations with any of the four bidders. There were no other parties to the agreement or instrumental in arranging this contract. The ICC paid no commission or fees to any party and there is no evidence to suggest that any person in ICC has benefited from this contract.'' However, documents and letters about Dalmiya's role in the negotiations with Doordarshan, which won the final bid, disprove this.