CoA asks BCCI officials to watch India-England T20Is at own expense

06/20/2018

Committee of Administrators has notified Amitabh Choudhary to watch India-England T20Is at his own expense as BCCI will not bear expenses post ICC conference in Dublin. CEO Rahul Johri has also informed that he will return after 2 games in England, but response given to him is still not known.

The rift between the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) seems to be an unending one as a fresh round of dispute has erupted between the two parties. In an email exchange, which soon turned a bit ugly, acting BCCI secretary Amitabh Choudhary asked to extend his stay in England after ICC annual conference in Dublin.

However, the CoA notified that if he wishes to stay back in England following the ICC annual conference from June 28 to July 2 in Dublin, to watch India's three T20I matches against England, the BCCI will not bear his expenses.

"The Committee of Administrators has taken note of your email. Although you have not sought approval from the CoA for your travels abroad, permission is granted for you to travel only to Dublin for attending the ICC meetings from June 28 to July 2. Kindly ensure that expenses towards ticketing and hotel stay are limited to the extent borne by ICC." the CoA's mail read, reported Indian Express.

The CoA then goes on to add that it sees no sense in Choudhary staying back to watch the India-England games.

"From the contents of your email, the CoA does not see any value addition to the BCCI in your merely watching the three-T20 India-England games to be played in England.

"Hence, if you wish to attend these games, kindly ensure that BCCI does not incur any expenses in this regard," the mail further read.

Speaking to CricketNext, a senior BCCI official said that the reply puts the secretary in an embarrassing position and was uncalled for.

“This is yet another example of the high-handedness of the CoA. They had absolutely no problem with an entourage of officials travelling to England for the Champions Trophy last year since they themselves were keen to visit England. Suddenly there is no worthwhile purpose to the visit.

“Amitabh is a court appointed BCCI’s representative to the ICC and he has to meet other Boards’ representatives and this usually happens on the sidelines of international games. In fact, the office bearers should be going for these events in the interest of bilateral relations between boards. This new diktat has not only embarrassed Amitabh but has also considerably weakened the position of BCCI’s representative at the ICC,” he said.

BCCI CEO Rahul Johri has also sent a similar mail to the CoA, informing that he will be returning to the country after watching the first two England T20Is.

"I will be travelling to Dublin on June 26 and return to Mumbai on July 8 as I will stay back to attend the first two games of the India-England series in July 3 and July 6. This is for your information," Johri's mail read.

However, there has been no official statement as to the expenses borne for Johri’s extended stay.