BCCI top brass employ 'wait and watch' policy on NADA issue

The BCCI on Sunday decided to employ “wait and watch” policy with regards to coming under National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA)’s umbrella after its top brass met in Kolkata for a meeting on Sunday.

The meeting was attended by acting president CK Khanna, acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary and treasurer Aniruddh Chaudhry.

CEO Rahul Johri was present as the representative of Vinod Rai-led Committee of Administrators (COA).

NADA has long wanted the BCCI to come under its ambit but country’s richest sports body has thwarted its attempt because it doesn’t come under the ambit of National Sports Federations (NSFs).

“The CEO Rahul Johri updated us on BCCI’s current stand on anti-doping policy and communication with NADA and ICC. However, no decision has been taken as of now. We have had some amount of discussions on this topic. But we are going to have a few more meetings before we can arrive at any conclusion. It will take some time,” acting president CK Khanna told PTI on Sunday.

However, as things stand, it will be difficult to convince top Indian cricketers like Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni to sign the contentious ‘Whereabouts Clause’ where players need to intimate the anti-doping body in advance for the testing purpose.

The Indian cricketers are dead against the clause as they fear that their privacy will be breached.

Also Read | Lakshya clinches Asia Junior Championship title 

With the Supreme Court scheduled to pass its verdict on the revised constitution based on Lodha Committee recommendations in the next fortnight, the COA might not have enough time at their disposal to get a policy decision passed in such a short span of time.

If BCCI comes under the NADA ambit, the decision has to be taken at the general body meeting as COA cannot unilaterally take any decision.

The other topic that came up for discussion was allowing outstation players to take part in the state-based T20 leagues like Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), Karnataka Premier League (KPL) to name a few.

The meeting was attended by technical committee chairman Sourav Ganguly also along with three office-bearers.

The meeting was deemed necessary after players like Unmukt Chand, Sheldon Jackson, Hanuma Vihari were not allowed by the COA to take part in the TNPL citing BCCI rules which prevents a player from another state to take part in a private league held in another state.

“Since the TNPL has started, this year nothing can happen. But we need to find a way out. Most of the members feel that players shouldn’t be barred from playing,” one of the office bearers said.

“However technical committee chairman Ganguly made a pertinent point that we also need to maintain a fine balance when it comes to allowing too many state-based T20 leagues as it’s our duty to protect the novelty of Indian Premier League,” he added.