CoA Show Causes BCCI Acting Secretary for Not Attending Meetings

BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary has seven days to respond to the show cause notice.

The Committee of Administrators (CoA) on Sunday, 8 September, show caused BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary for not attending recent meetings of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Asian Cricket Council (ACC).

Though the CoA recently banned him from convening national selection committee meetings as secretary, Choudhary remains BCCI's representative at the ICC and ACC.

Choudhary has seven days to respond to the show cause notice.

"It has now come to the notice of the Committee of Administrators that in the last meetings of the ICC and the ACC, not only did you not attend the meetings but kept the BCCI in dark about your unavailability either until it was too late or altogether," wrote the three-member CoA in its notice to the secretary.

"Your aforesaid conduct left the BCCI unrepresented in the said meetings and exposed the organisation to considerable risk."

Repeated calls to Choudhary for his response on the notice went unanswered.

The ICC conference was held from 14-20 July in London while the ACC Annual General Meeting took place in Bangkok on 3 September.

"The COA came to learn of your unavailability to attend the ICC Conference scheduled in London for the 14th July on 12th July when you merely forwarded your e-mail dated 12th July 2019 to ICC, informing the ICC of your unavailability for the said meetings.

"The short notice did not leave any room with the COA to appoint a replacement to attend the said meetings in London. Consequently, the BCCI was unrepresented in the board meeting of the ICC."

The CoA, headed by former CAG Vinod Rai, claimed Choudhary again expressed his last minute unavailability for the ACC AGM.

"Later, the CoA had approved your travel to Bangkok to attend the ACC AGM on 3 September 2019. Again at the eleventh hour you failed to attend the ACC meeting, leaving the interests of the BCCI unattended.

"You did not even deem it necessary to inform the CoA of your unavailability to attend the said meeting. The CoA learnt of your unavailability, and that too without knowing the reason for the absence, from the Secretary of the ACC as you had mailed to him of your unavailability to attend.

"Thus, the BCCI learnt from the ACC that its own representative was not attending the meeting on the morning of the meeting. This was most humiliating for the COA and the organisation. Besides the fact that in both the meetings the BCCI went unrepresented, its interests have been seriously compromised by your action," the CoA stated.