BCCI and all other Sports Bodies should be under RTI Act: Promote other sports too on lines of cricket: Prevent over payments to cricketers

It is indeed surprising that Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) is not a recognized National Sports Federation, and giving salaries and pensions to cricketers was internal matter of BCCI which should be declared a public-authority under RTI Act as recommended by Law Commission subsequent to a Supreme Court verdict where huge public money is rained out by BCCI as salaries and pensions to individual cricketers and coaVinod Rai, chairperson of Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) for ensuring implementation of Justice RM Lodha committee report in respect of BCCI on 03.07.2018 warned that the then election results of  Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) could be annulled because of ethical and constitutional inadequacies, further pointing out that elections took place without a constitution that is endorsed by the Supreme Court and failure of DDCA failure in putting in place the Supreme Court-advocated checks and balances to avert possible conflict of interest situations.

Elections witnessed extra-ordinary amount of money spent by groups contesting elections. Elected DDCA Chairperson had to resign after the unruly Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on 29.12.2019 with signatories refusing to sign hefty bills of rupees one crore as legal-fees for just one month and of rupees 90 lakhs to spruce up marquee stands for a T-20 International against about one-third of the awarded tender. For convenience of candidates and voters, groups contesting for all posts should be recognized with particular names and group-candidates may be numbered according to alphabetical names of groups to be placed on top on Electronic Voting System. Independent candidates can be placed alphabetically after group-candidates. Since voters are mostly literate ones, even system of preferential voting can be implemented to avoid candidates winning because of split of votes.

Necessary safeguards should be ensured for future elections for DDCA or any other state-level cricket-body so that money-power in campaigning may be restricted. Moreover, for convenience of candidates and voters, groups contesting for all posts should be recognized where many cricketers have an annual salary package of rupees seven crores (for cricket coach it is rupees ten crores) apart from hefty match money and award money.

All direct and indirect facilities and funding by central and state governments should be given only to recognized sports-federations, and as such should be immediately withdrawn from BCCI and its affiliated cricket-bodies which also include some government-bodies apart from state cricket associations. But BCCI enjoys being outside purview of RTI Act because heavyweight politicians cutting across party-lines have deep administrative control on BCCI and state cricket associations despite their not having played a single cricket-match in life-time.

BCCI should totally abolish policy of salaries and pensions to cricketers which are nothing but like Privy Purses of modern-era princes and kings in form of cricketers. Indian cricketers get hefty match-money, award-money apart from their heavy income from commercial advertisements. Payment of hefty salaries and pensions running upto crores of rupees per annum for cricketers and coach has created an altogether new category of super-rich persons where some of them are reportedly getting shipped imported mineral water for their daily consumption. In case BCCI does not stop system of salaries and pensions to cricketers and coaches, then central government should take over BCCI as part of Department of Sports. Sportsman performing very well in other games have to lead miserable life because of low income and sports-bodies of their games not affording to pay so heavily like BCCI. In no case any cricketer should be paid salary and pension more than that fixed for highest paid bureaucrat of the country. BCCI must not have right to spend funds generated out of public-craze in paying heavily to cricketers. Maruti chairperson had once given a practical suggestion that top managements should avoid giving obscene salaries to persons on top. Instead there should be a formula whereby top-most person in an organization be given maximum 15-20 times the salary of lowest paid staff. Same formula must be applicable for BCCI. If earning of BCCI is criterion for payment to cricketers, then priests of famous temples can also demand such hefty payments based on income of temples. Central government should ensure that BCCI funds may be utilized for public-welfare schemes in the manner income from famous Hindu temples like Tirupati are spent.  

It is noteworthy that once despite Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi having made highly objectionable comments against India and Indian Prime Minister with Pakistani army-persons standing with him somewhere in Pak-occupied-Kashmir (PoK), website of Shahid Afridi Foundation continued depicting support-messages of Indian cricket-god Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar even though later Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajansingh withdrew his support-message from the said website when the Indian Prime Minister even held foul and filthy comments on the website even more dangerous than corona.

Leading cricketers are hesitating from giving clear-cut statements in favour of BCCI imposing much-needed harsh conditions on International Cricket Council (ICC) to expel terror-generating Pakistan from ICC, for the obvious reasons of more than hefty monetary receipts from BCCI in form of annual salary-package, pensions, match-money and award money running in annual receipt of crores of rupees for each individual cricketer. Pakistan Cricket Control Board (PCCB) and ICC are financially dependent totally on Indian cricket. Breaking cricket-ties with Pakistan will make PCCB totally collapsed and Pakistani cricketers coming on streets. ICC cannot run without membership of India. Rather than giving up important match-points to Pakistan by declining to play with Pakistan, better is to take even harsher step for BCCI to leave membership of ICC in case Pakistan is not expelled from membership of ICC. Isolating Pakistan in every field will practically ruin the terror-country Pakistan economically which is a better option than war.

It refers to information ultimately provided by Hockey India subsequent to CIC-verdict that as many as 10917 complimentary tickets were issued by Hockey India for 35^th Hero Men Championship Trophy played at Bhubaneshwar in the year 2014 for multiple matches played during eight days further informing that 22935 tickets remained unsold for the trophy-matches. Hockey India also informed that 6030 complimentary tickets were distributed for each of semi-final and final matches played under Hockey India league respectively on 21.02.2015 and 22.02.2015. It is now clear that Hockley India is badly mismanaged in all aspects including fund-management and promotion of Hockey to restore India as world-champion. Union Ministry of Sports should instead stop all financial grant to Hockey India because of funds being spent on paying to individual or private companies in form of legal-fees and commissions, rather than promoting Hockey in the country. Instead a separate wing may be formed in Union Ministry of sports for promotion of Hockey, which will be spending on legal-fees and commissions as per norms set by Union government rather than decided by office-bearers of Hockey India.

On the other side, central and state governments shower huge amount of money in tunes of crores of rupees to cricketers which is apart from hefty annual salaries of upto rupees seven crores per cricketer and life-time heavy pension after their retirement from cricket paid by BCCI. Even people of India are responsible for such inequality when they prefer talking and watching only cricket resulting India losing its world-championship in Hockey, and nowhere visible in most favourite game of the world namely Football.

It is absolutely unfair to create such a class-distinction in society where cricketers earning otherwise also through their costly appearance in advertisements are paid so heavy from public-fund of richest cricket-body of the world BCCI funded through public-craze where cricket has become religion for people. If earning of BCCI is criterion for payment to cricketers, then priests of famous temples can also demand such hefty payments based on income of temples. Central government should ensure that BCCI funds may be utilized for public-welfare schemes in the manner income from famous Hindu temples like Tirupati are spent, rather than creating a super-rich category of persons in a country with so much poverty and unemployment.

Football-fever in the world is over with world-cup final match played at Moscow (Russia) on 15.07.2018 between France and Croatia. Football is most favourite game in the world leaving cricket much behind being placed at number-seven. India once held number-one position in Hockey too, but that also vanished with cricket monopolizing in India with cricketers earning enormously through crores of rupees given annually to individual cricketers by Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) as salary, match-money and award money apart from huge income from other sources like from advertisements.

It is a matter of concern that world’s second largest populated country India with a population of more than 130 crores does not figure anywhere in world’s most favourite game of football, while Croatia with just about with a small population of just about 43 lakhs managed to reach to world-cup final. It is time that a planned craze may be developed in Indians to make football and hockey also their favourite game like Cricket so that India may also one dream of winning world-cup final in football. Playing football is also otherwise is healthy requiring strong bodies and sharp mind unlike cricket which is more or less a game of chance.

It is good that ultimately with efforts of BJP Spokesperson, Indian sports like Kho-Kho are being promoted at international level. Union Government should also promote other Indian sports especially played in villages in yesteryears like Kabaddi on international level to give rural youth also to participate in international sports like has rightly been done in Wrestling. Medals won by most Indians in Asian games are mostly by youngsters coming from extremely poor families, and will be soon forgotten by governments and people of this country like a five-year old child Budhia who created record in 55-kms race. Budhia is presently in poor health of malnutrition.