BCCI yet to work on registration of players’ agents

The Justice (RM) Lodha Committee was appointed by the Supreme Court after the match-fixing saga had hit the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). One of the recommendations of the panel was that the BCCI should undertake the registration of players’ agents to prevent corrupt practices.

“There exist grave concerns about those who act as agents of players. Their backgrounds are normally unknown, as are the commercial arrangements entered into by and on behalf of the players. The conduct of players in the last few years has also shown that they have not been properly informed and instructed about the applicable principles and ethics governing the BCCI, the IPL and the game. It is the obligation of the Players’ Agent to ensure proper information and adherence to all norms by his client and also to protect the player from any suspicious contact or questionable overtures,” Justice Lodha had written in his report which was endorsed by the Apex Court.

Justice Lodha recommended that “A Committee on Agent Regulation should be constituted by the BCCI to administer matters relating to registration of Player Agents.” He said the Committee should consist of five members, of which two shall be nominees of the Players' Association and three (including the chairperson) shall be nominees of the BCCI.

The SC appointed Committee of Administrators had got the new BCCI Constitution registered according to the Court orders and elections took place last year according to the new bylaws. However, the Indian cricket board has failed to take a call on the registration of players' agent.

"This shows the seriousness of BCCI. They are contesting some of the reforms like cooling off period and involvement of board officials in day to day operations but are least bothered about the full implementation of the reforms," a source told Sportskeeda on Saturday.

Sources said the BCCI had formed a committee with its CEO Rahul Johri, Abhay Apte of the Maharashtra Cricket Association and CAB’s Abhishek Dalmiya. However, the committee never met despite the COA being at the helm of affairs.

It was presumed that the newly elected body would address the issue. It has been almost five months since the Sourav Ganguly-led Apex Council took charge of the BCCI but they haven’t taken a step forward on the matter.

"It is surprising that none of the board members have taken the initiative to register the agents which is clearly written in the Lodha reforms. This is a serious lapse," a source said.