Cricket Advisory Committee doesn't need to appear in front of ethics officer, says BCCI functionary
A senior BCCI functionary has stated that the Cricket Advisory Committee doesn't need to appear in front of ethics officer to clear the conflict allegations. Earlier, CAC members were served notices by BCCI ethics officer to explain their stance on the allegations of conflict of interest.
Justice Jain has asked all three CAC members to respond to the charge by October 10, otherwise, he would be forced to draw his own conclusion on the issue. While Kapil is part of the steering committee on the newly-formed, BCCI-funded Indian Cricketers' Association (ICA) and is one of its directors, his role as an expert for Indian television channels puts him in a conflict in Gupta’s allegations.
After being served the notice, Santha Rangaswamy decided to move on and resigned from the role as well as that of Indian Cricketers Association director. However, a Times of India report says the CoA has offered to represent Kapil-led CAC in front of the ethics officer as it had cleared the panel to select the head coach of the Indian cricket team.
"The CoA had asked for disclosures of each of them. They had given that and it was inferred that none of them were in conflict. Unlike the case of Sourav Ganguly, this isn't even a case of tractable conflict. BCCI will take up their matter now and they don't have to go to the ethics officer. The CAC was an ad-hoc body picked to work for one day. It was an honorary position. They were just given token remuneration for their services," a senior BCCI official told TOI on Sunday.
"The CoA did not see a conflict and hence the appointment was done. Even if there was a difference of opinion within the CoA, that person who was in the minority has not asked for his/her opinion to be recorded," CoA chief Vinod Rai clarified on Sunday.
It is also learnt that the CoA has offered a similar situation for Rahul Dravid too but the former Indian captain denied taking that, saying he would fight for himself. "It was Dravid's decision to attend the hearing in person. He wanted to clear the air himself as he didn't like his name being thrown around," the official said.