Will look into conflicts seriously: COA

MUMBAI: The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (COA), working on implementation of Lodha Committee reforms, has decided to pull the rug from under the feet of all individuals in Indian cricket who fall under any kind of “conflict“.
To draw the line for what amounts to conflict and what doesn't, the COA will refer to the recommendations of the Justice RM Lodha Committee, one that the Supreme Court ordered last year to be implemented in totality.The administrators do acknowledge that before an eventual crackdown, it is first important to draft what exactly constitutes as `conflict of interest'.
This came a day after TOI reported that the COA is likely to question the wisdom in India legends Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly having their feet in multiple boats.
“We will be looking into this as seriously as possible,“ a COA member said, reacting to scores of individuals in the Indian cricket fraternity who've been crying foul over privileges given to “specific individuals“ in all matters cricket.
Day-to-day work at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru has taken a hit because of individuals busy with dual roles.
Keeping in mind all practicalities, the `conflict of interest' theory has become a bone of contention in Indian cricket over the years primarily because of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Be it Dravid or Ganguly or scores of other individuals who are associated with IPL franchises while also working with the national teams or having jobs at the NCA and its affiliated centres.
In November 2015, after coming on board as president of BCCI for the second time, Shashank Manohar had made way for a list of rules that would constitute the term `conflict'.
The rules are still listed on the BCCI website, of which Rule 3 says: Any Administrator or their near relatives should not be associated with any Company Organization that has entered into a Commercial Agreement with the BCCI. Association shall not mean any near relative who is working as a regular employee of the CompanyOrganisation.
This, however, did not apply in the case of Ganguly , when Manohar categorically stated in December 2015 that the former India captain was not conflicted.
Those rules, nevertheless, rationally stand redundant right now in the wake of the Lodha Committee recommendations that were brought out in July 2016.
It is these set of recommendations that the COA will study to look into the much-talked about conflict theories involving former India cricketers, coaches, mentors and support staff in the IPL ­ both, Indians and foreigners.
“It is very understandable that a line cannot be drawn and said `this involves conflict and this doesn't. It involves a great deal of good deed, faith and large heartedness to know when to stay and when to leave,“ says senior administrator of BCCI known to be a stickler for rules over the years.
Unfortunately , good deed and faith have been long lost words in Indian cricket for a while now.