BCCI officials to sign ‘no conflict of interest’ undertaking

Asserting that declaration of interest by cricket administrators was essential to ensure transparency, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Jagmohan Dalmiya on Friday said a comprehensive code of conduct is in the offing.

“It is an internal matter of the BCCI”, Thakur told Deccan Herald. The undertaking will also be signed by the board president, secretary, joint secretary and treasurer.

The “no conflict of interest” clause would include no direct business links with any cricketing affairs in the BCCI, including interest or stake in IPL teams, sponsorships or looking after specific players’ interests.

He also pointed out that a similar process was initiated earlier by board in 2005.

Another senior BCCI official, who has gotten the BCCI warning, said, “There was an examination in these lines however secretary communicated his stress over general society observation that has been made about BCCI”.

“Subsequently, despite the fact that some state affiliations may not care for the thought but rather they are presently bound to sign the endeavor”.

It may be recalled that the Supreme Court, which heard the IPL spot-fixing and betting case, had come down heavily on the BCCI for allowing current ICC Chairman N Srinivasan to own Chennai Super Kings despite being a BCCI official (treasurer) in 2008 when the tournament started. Questions about his conflict of interest were raised then.

“I personally feel that the concept of appropriate declarations not merely by BCCI officials but also of the State Associations must be revived in larger interests of transparency, evenhandedness and impartiality. This would ensure that the reputation and integrity of the Board are secured”, he said. In a wake up call post Lodha Committee’s verdict on IPL scandal and in particular the panel’s questioning of conflict of interest, the BCCI has written to all its associations to fill up “no-conflict-of-interest” undertaking.

“In a two-page letter that has ‘conflict of interest” as its subject, the BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur makes a direct appeal to the associations to submit the declaration form and “protect the reputation and institutional integrity so as to earn broad trust, faith and confidence in all our activities”.

Dalmiya said that a comprehensive Code of Conduct/Ethics may be formulated in near future to lay down the core values for behaviour and conduct of the members.