Privy purses, royalty and corruption through perks

Like an onion, various layers of BCCI are getting peeled off, one by one. Every new layer provides a new dimension to the greed of BCCI’s officials. It’s this greed that is not allowing them to let go of their perks and power, which will happen if the Supreme Court’s judgement on reforms is implemented in letter and spirit. 

Revelations of the losses the ex-officials of BCCI have been subjected to are shocking — loss of daily allowance, travel, 5-star stay, luxury vehicles. These perks are the real reasons BCCI office-bearers are willing to even die in their effort to keep their ‘family heritance’ that the cricket set-up has become for them.

Lakhs in allowances

According to a newspaper report, top officials of BCCI travel nearly 240 days in a year while running the affairs of the game. For this, each BCCI office-bearer is paid almost Rs 60 lakh per year as daily allowances.

I’m personally aware of how the office-bearers of the Delhi association (DDCA) manipulate invitations for their minions — loyal office-bearers and patrons/vice-patrons are taken for exotic holidays which BCCI meetings are. They check into a 5-star hotel, get ferried in the most luxurious cars, eat the best and most expensive food — all at BCCI’s expense. I know the case of a DDCA office-bearer who claimed reimbursement for air tickets from both BCCI and DDCA!

One way to keep the flock of the loyalists intact is to get them nominated on various BCCI committees. Apart from the power and prestige, the money that comes with the committees’ membership is mouth-watering, to say the least. If the Lodha Committee’s recommendations are implemented, these top office-bearers and their chelas could lose out on lakhs of rupees which they get as allowances, since BCCI’s day-to-day functioning would then be taken care of by the CEO and other managers. Little wonder, then, that in the recent meeting of BCCI’s state units, the disqualified office-bearers bitterly opposed granting of powers to BCCI’s CEO and other key officials.

Corruption and bungling

If professional CEOs are appointed in every state, the office-bearers will lose their allowances. Worse, they will not be able to make enormous commissions through contracts for services at the stadium, or through payments to ghost companies for ghost work. The officials will have to curtail their travelling. What will be the fun left in being an office-bearer if one cannot pocket large sums, even if it is for attending regular picnics? During IPL-2 held in South Africa in 2009, 27 office-bearers and their families went to South Africa at BCCI’s expense.

One senior office-bearer in DDCA did not sign any paper for nearly 35 years. In fact, investigators poring over piles of documents have been perplexed to find this man’s signature missing from any important document that could directly link him to any fraud. Blank cheques would be kept with the accountants, and large amounts of cash would be routinely available in the books. This money was misused. The then president was not bothered despite being regularly informed of all this. A preliminary audit report made by a specially appointed forensic auditor is an indictment of what was shockingly going on for years in DDCA.

The Ministry of Urban Development has confirmed that since 2002, there is no valid lease for the land DDCA occupies. Yet DDCA has spent nearly Rs 140 crore on construction when the basic lease for the land has not been executed. In 2016, Delhi Government’s fact-finding committee had named several proxy companies, many of which were allegedly filed under the same account. This gave credence to the accusations of money-laundering in DDCA.

Loot through tenders

Justice Mudgal, former Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, has submitted reports on DDCA’s working to the Delhi High Court. From bungling of funds to mismanagement and loot through tenders, his reports indict DDCA for many wrongdoings; sadly, this is a re-run of what is happening in practically every state association.

BCCI has been taken over by freeloaders and petty businessmen who have nothing to do with cricket. To perpetuate themselves, they have created a web of loyalists, including cricketers who make a fortune through TV contracts. These cricketers are always in the forefront in the defence of all sorts of wrongdoing by the officials. This includes opposing the reforms recommended by the Lodha Committee.

I’m sure the Honourable Supreme Court is watching the intransigence and arrogance of the disqualified office-bearers of BCCI and its state units. A strong dose of transparency and fair play will have to be administered to the recalcitrant office-bearers. They will try to avoid taking it. It must be shoved down their throats. 

Bishan Singh Bedi is a former India Captain