Committe of Administrators (CoA) chairman Vinod Rai reckons that they have got to the root of problems confronting the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI), but ‘cleansing’ can not happen overnight.
In the aftermath of 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal, the COA was appointed by the Supreme Court about a year ago but the Lodha Committee recommendations are yet to be implemented by many state associations.
“You can’t expect a committee of one and half years to get to the 360 degrees of the entire problem. But I must say 99% of the problems have been identified. We have tried to plug it also. They have done a fairly good job about the diagnosis of the problems that confront Indian cricket today,” Rai said during a session on “Reforming Indian Sport” organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce.
“As an avid sports lover, I would very much like to see BCCI become the role model in large number of ways for administration to be built upon in a large number of way in the days to come.”
The COA, originally a four-member panel, has now been reduced to a two-member Committee as cricket historian Ramachandra Guha and Vikram Limaye resigned. “When you’re out there trying to fix things, you have to be thick-skinned. You’re addressing issues about policy reforms and how can you you allow personalities to derail. You have to continue to focus on whatever happening. 30 years cleansing you can’t do overnight. The buzzword for us is perseverance. Only thing I can say is I’m a retired unemployed, totally benign private citizen.”
I’ve tons of time and I’ve perseverance,” the 69-year-old said. Rai lamented that the Indians are content with mediocrity when it comes to achieving excellence in sports. “Look at China in Olympics 30 years back. Where were they? Look at now. The state has taken over. It’s the pursuit of excellence and with professionalism that has delivered.”
Somewhere I think, as far as India are concerned, we have just become satisfied with mediocre performances. We have become to worship mediocrity, someway it has got into our souls. The moment we try to pursue excellence – only the gold medals and not the silver and bronze – I think we have done it.” He also praised the former BCCI officials.
“People behind the BCCI have done a huge amount of good. They built up the game of cricket in big time, there’s no denying. All that we need to do just put a model in place to make it sustainable for a long period. For anything to be sustainable, it has to be formed on an edifice of accountability, transparency and an element of objectivity. That’s why between a sportsperson and fans, an administrative agency works,” he summed up about their role.
(With inputs from PTI)
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