Reports : BCCI may ask captains to declare potential Conflict of Interest

The Justice (rtrd) RM Lodha Committee had called for a vigorous agent registration system to safeguard players interests and eliminate any conflict of interests. The Lodha Committee, which was asked by the Supreme Court with suggesting reforms in BCCI, had asked for the agents to be cleared by an anti-corruption unit.

"The committee has clearly mentioned in the recommendations on how to keep the player-agent relationship out of conflicts. If the reforms are used as per their convenience, it will lead to nothing. You can’t use the reforms in bits and pieces. Everyone who is involved with the game should be conflict free and that is the essence of the recommendations. You have to disclose all the conflicts and that includes the captain, coach, commentators, support staff, administrators, managers, employees, agents and other stakeholder of the game," Justice Lodha was qouted saying by TOI.

Emphasizing on asking the captains about any conflict of interest whatsoever he added, “It is even better to ask the captain to make a full disclosure about the other players who are being managed by his agency. In that way, the conflict can be eradicated as the captain will not have a say when a discussion about those players comes up in a selection meeting.”

The conflict rules as uploaded on the BCCI website and also submitted to the Supreme Court, clearly states that no commercial interest should be allowed to be pursued – be it by a BCCI employee or cricketer. However, the newly drafted BCCI constitution doesn’t have a provision for taking an undertaking from players. With coaches, commentators, support staff, administrators, and BCCI employees being asked to give an undertaking about a possible conflict of interests, a big section of the BCCI general body is keen for initiating a system where the captain would have to disclose all possible conflict involving players with management agencies.

Looking at an extreme view even suggests that if an agency is managing the Indian captain, it should not be allowed to manage other players from the team itself.

The CoA had set up a three-member committee - BCCI CEO Rahul Johri, former Maharashtra Cricket Association President Abhay Apte & Cricket Association of Bengal’s secretary Abhishek Dalmiya as its members to look into conflict of interest issues and suggest guidelines but the panel never met. In fact, sources also indicated that it doesn’t exist anymore. However, after the BCCI elections, these issues could come up for discussion, according to several general body members who requested anonymity. The feeling within this section is, as one of them put it, “Why should we alone be accountable? Why not the players and captains too?”

Earlier, BCCI employees were also asked to give an undertaking on their conflict of interest, Even if it's a general manager, who may have several clubs in his home state was asked to reveal it all and had to face the trouble for trying to hide facts. A former captain was also questioned about an agency that managed his affairs and also looked after the commercial interest of other cricketers as well.