Amicus permits MCA larger apex council, but insists on voting rights

Representational Image

The Supreme Court-appointed Amicus Curiae, PS Narsimha, who was also given additional charge as a mediator to resolve issues of the BCCI state associations, has agreed to make some special provisions for the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA). The Amicus has allowed MCA to form a 17-member apex council and also approved its sub-committees to function.

In a couple of meetings that the MCA authorities had with the Amicus, it is learnt that Narsimha was convinced to allow MCA have a 17-member apex council instead of stipulated nine members as recommended by the Justice Lodha Committee.

Practical problems explained
"We explained the practical problems in mirroring the BCCI constitution at the state level. For example, a state's jurisdiction and functions are quite large as compared to the BCCI. While the BCCI looks after its contracted players [men and women], a state association has to manage its local tournaments, thousands of players and manage grounds and stadium. Now, is it practical for nine members of the Apex Council to look after all these things?" a top MCA source told mid-day yesterday.

The Apex Council of the MCA would be a formation of five elected office-bearers [president, vice-president, secretary, joint secretary and treasurer]. The three nominated members would be male and female players representative and an accountant general of the state. There will be nine Managing Committee members as compared to one as mentioned in the Lodha report.

Amicus boost for MCA
In another boost to MCA's hopes, it is understood that the Amicus agreed to allow several sub-committees to function which wasn't the case in the Lodha committee report.

Whether these provisions made by the Amicus will be approved by the Supreme Court remains to be seen. Meanwhile, the MCA also appealed to the Amicus to not allow players a voting right, but Narsimha rejected MCA's claim. MCA is expecting the elections to be held in three months time once the Supreme Court gives a green signal.

Can Dilip Vengsarkar head MCA's CIC?
The MCA has officially appointed Dilip Vengsarkar as its Cricket Improvement Committee (CIC) chief and the four-member committee informally met yesterday to decide on the road ahead.

However, the buzz around the MCA was whether Vengsarkar can make a comeback in the association despite him completing nine years as MCA's office-bearer. Vengsarkar had been the vice-president for 10 years. He resigned from his post in January 2017 following the SC order in July 2016. The MCA ad-hoc committee members were unavailable for comment on whether the ex-Mumbai captain could be the CIC chief. Vengsarkar and his CIC colleagues Sanjay Patil, Kiran Mokashi and Raju Kulkarni will finalise selectors and coaches at the end of this month.

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates