The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Dalmiya nominated Patron-in-Chief

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Monday, Sep 13, 2004

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Dalmiya nominated Patron-in-Chief

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, SEPT. 12. Jagmohan Dalmiya was nominated the Board's Patron-in-Chief for three years after his term as the BCCI president ends on September 30, during a special general body meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), here, on Sunday,

The announcement was made by BCCI's senior vice-president, Kamal Morarka - Dalmiya chose not to take part in the deliberations to make him Patron-in-Chief. BCCI secretary S.K. Nair said the decision was unanimous.

Earlier, there were doubts whether the meeting could be held at all after an interim order of a Bhopal Court had advised the Board to refrain from taking any decision contrary to its own rules.

The Board's legal experts, however, felt since there was a provision in the BCCI constitution to nominate a Patron-in-Chief, there would be no violation.

The attending Board members were served copies of the interim order, ahead of the meeting. Mr. Dalmiya did not accept the same on the grounds that he was not a defendant. "In any case, it has to be directed to either the secretary of the BCCI, or of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB)," he said.

Mr. Morarka clarified: "The court has not restrained us from holding the meeting. The BCCI did not do anything contrary to its rules and regulations today."

Formal decision later

He said there was a proposal to enable Dalmiya represent the BCCI in the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meetings, though a formal decision would be taken only during the Board's annual general body meeting in Kolkata on September 29 and 30.

Asked whether such a move could weaken the incoming president, Mr. Morarka said, "there is absolutely no idea of diluting the powers of the president."

Dalmiya said, "This is an honour. It is a matter of pride for me." He said two special general body discussions, and a marketing panel meeting were held on Sunday.

It was decided to reduce the term of the secretary, the joint secretary, and the treasurer, in case they got re-elected, from five years to three. Said Mr. Dalmiya - "Their services and experience will be used in some other capacity by the Board."

On granting full membership to associate members, he said a panel would henceforth assess the performance of an associate member unit after every three working seasons. Guidelines would be set to this effect.

Jharkhand CA

The name of the Bihar Cricket Association had been changed to Jharkhand Cricket Association, he said. Bihar, Chattisgarh, and Uttaranchal will have to send fresh applications to the Board.

On the marketing panel meeting to discuss the television rights issue, Mr. Dalmiya said the members were apprised of the latest situation. There was a sense of urgency in the Board to end the litigation in light of the upcoming India-Australia series in October, he added.

Former BCCI president, A.C. Muthiah, said though Mr. Dalmiya's experience would add value to his role as a Patron, his representing the Board in the ICC and ACC meetings "would diminish the role of the President."

"The BCCI president should represent the Board in the highest decision making cricketing body in the world, the ICC, and in Asia, the ACC. Otherwise he would just be handling local affairs. It is only right that he gets the honour since he is involved in the day-to-day running of the Board, unlike a Patron. This is my personal opinion. It is for the members to take a decision during the AGM," Mr. Muttiah said.

In case of an emergency, somebody else could always be sent on an important assignment, Mr. Muthiah said. "I remember once I was not able to attend an ICC meeting, and Raj Singh Dungarpur represented the Board."

Mr. Muthiah, who took part in the marketing committee meeting as the immediate past president said, "the television rights issue would have to be resolved soon. Otherwise the India-Australia series would be in jeopardy." He said some alternatives had been suggested in this regard.

BCCI Joint Secretary Ratnakar Shetty said Mr. Dalmiya, in light of his contribution to the Board, was deserving of the honour.

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