BCCI all set to form ad-hoc body to run Delhi cricket

Without a president and its secretary in jail, the controversy and corruption-ridden Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) is set to be directly governed by the BCCI through an ad-hoc committee. The BCCI has already stopped DDCA's annual grant and there has been a discussion to put an ad-hoc body in place during a teleconference between Apex Council members a couple of days back. "There are endless complaints of corruption at all levels as far as DDCA is concerned. Most of the Apex Council members feel that till a proper set up can be put in place, an Ad-hoc body should be put in place," a senior BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

BCCI all set to form ad-hoc body to run Delhi cricket

The DDCA is already without a president since senior journalist Rajat Sharma resigned while general secretary Vinod Tihara is in a Meerut jail for alleged violation of the Customs Act. Most of the DDCA's Apex Council members have been suspended by state body's Ombudsman for their alleged involvement in financial impropriety with regards to some renovation work.  Apart from these allegations, there have been allegations of compromising merit in selection matters from age group to Ranji team.

"There is no president at the moment and a secretary who is in jail and he can't come back and take over the administration even he gets bail. Just like we did in Rajasthan, we can form a body that looks after cricketing as well as administrative matters," the senior official said.

Asked whether the appointment of an ad-hoc committee can happen only after the lockdown ends, another senior Apex Council member said: "You never know, it could happen even before the lockdown ends." In fact, one of the primary reasons that BCCI wants to put an ad-hoc body in place is to avoid a situation where a court-appointed administrator takes over. "It was court appointed administrator Justice (Retd) Vikramjeet Sen, under whose aegis election was conducted. DDCA was the first body that had elections under Lodha constitution way before other state units. Look at what has happened," he said.

He cited the Rajasthan model where the ad-hoc body put a structure in place, formed selection committees for teams while all the payments to the support staff were handled by the parent body. While the cricketers have received their BCCI match fees, none of the coaches, selectors, support staff including physios, trainers, masseurs, video analysts and curators have received a single penny due to the infighting in the association. Recently, PTI had reported how DDCA spent crores in legal expenses. The Tihara group's plan was to project the son of a former BJP heavyweight as the president but equations could change if the ad-hoc committee is formed by the board.