Justice RM Lodha is a satisfied man, with the Supreme Court on Monday endorsing most of the key recommendations made by the Panel headed by him to suggest structural reforms for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Lodha, who chaired the Supreme-Court constituted panel, told BusinessLine that he does not see any impediments in implementing these recommendations.
“The report was prepared after a lot of deliberations and efforts were put for nearly one year and it has now been broadly accepted. After the direction given by the Supreme Court, I don’t see any impediments in implementing these recommendations,” he said. Voicing a similar view is former Indian Cricket Captain, Bishen Singh Bedi, who said “The recommendations by Lodha Panel have been formulated after going to the bottom of the issues…after putting in enormous efforts. I don’t see any reasons why these recommendations cannot be implemented within six months by the Board.”
Bedi is also quick to point out that the fact that the Supreme Court had to intervene meant that something was dreadfully wrong with the BCCI. “It was being run as personal fiefdom and this had to stop,” he told
Meanwhile, cricket fraternity and those closely associated with the game say recommendations such as inclusion of a Comptroller & Auditor General representative, barring Ministers and civil servants from holding posts, besides capping the age limit for office bearers to 70 years, will mean a major overhaul in the working style of the richest cricket board in the world.
The fact that the Supreme Court has let the BCCI decide the structure of agreements relating to broadcasting rights, will bring relief for the Board and the sports broadcasters.