In its submission to the ombudsman’s query on whether there is any conflict of interest in Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, who are the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s Cricket Advisory Committee members, having an association with IPL teams, the board has replied it is excusable provided the duo make a full disclosure regarding their roles with the respective franchises. The BCCI informed Justice DK Jain that the complaints against Tendulkar, who is associated with Mumbai Indians, and Laxman, who is part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad set-up, fall under the ‘tractable’ category. As per the BCCI’s rules on conflict of interest, “tractable conflicts are those that are resolvable or permissible or excusable through recusal of the individual concerned and/or with full disclosure of the interest involved.” A few weeks ago, a similar case against the third CAC member, Sourav Ganguly, who is associated with IPL team Delhi Capitals, was also deemed tractable by the BCCI. Ganguly is also president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). The Indian Express understands that former cricketers Tendulkar, Laxman and Ganguly will be allowed to hold their respective positions in IPL if they make the required disclosures. Tendulkar and Laxman have informed the ombudsman that, if needed, they are willing to be present for a personal hearing with their lawyers. Tendulkar on Sunday refuted the charges leveled against him, saying that he has neither received any compensation nor does he hold any decision-making power in the IPL franchise Mumbai Indians. Laxman, in his reply, stated that the COA has not explained the CAC’s role till date. “On December 7, 2018, we had written to the Committee of Administrators requesting them to clarify the scope of our role and responsibilities. To this date, there has been no reply. Since no tenure had been mentioned in the letter of intent issued in 2015, it was only reasonable to expect some communication on whether the CAC was still in existence. Unfortunately that hasn’t been forthcoming,” Laxman wrote in his affidavit. “It will be worthwhile to note that the reason I agreed to be a member was because of the various inputs we were originally tasked with contributing towards the sustained growth of Indian cricket. The opportunity to be involved meaningfully in India’s climb towards becoming a cricketing superpower post retirement was privilege enough for me to turn down the offer of remuneration of being a part of CAC. The allegation of the complainant are baseless as we are in no manner selectors of either players or coaches and CAC is not a permanent body.” As members of the CAC, the trio have overseen the appointment of Indian team coaches since 2015. The BCCI introduced its conflict of interest rules in 2018 which stipulate that an individual can henceforth hold only one post at a time.
