The Ethics Officer has ruled that the former India players have to choose between CAC, IPL jobs
Jain, who was appointed by the Supreme Court in February, also touched on the subject of active players such as Robin Uthappa and Irfan Pathan doing commentary at the ongoing World Cup.
BCCI Ethics Officer DK Jain Thursday has ruled Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman holding twin jobs of being Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) members and mentors with IPL franchises amounts to conflict of interest and the two former players will have to make a choice.
While Laxman is a mentor for Sunrisers Hyderabad, Ganguly holds the same position with the Delhi Daredevils franchise besides being the President of the Cricket Association of Bengal. The order on Laxman came Thursday while the one on Ganguly was passed earlier.
"One person one post is the soul of Lodha Committee recommendations. I have just tried to bring it out. In Sachin's (Tendulkar), the conflict of interest did not arise as he had withdrawn from CAC. But it does in Ganguly and Laxman's case and they need to decide how they would like to serve Indian cricket going forward," Jain told PTI.
Tendulkar is a mentor for another IPL franchise Mumbai Indians. All the three legendary cricketers had contested the allegation of conflict of interest and Laxman had even offered to step down from the CAC during his deposition.
"I have not done anything extraordinary while passing the order on Ganguly and Laxman," Jain said.
Jain, who was appointed by the Supreme Court in February, also touched on the subject of active players such as Robin Uthappa and Irfan Pathan doing commentary at the ongoing World Cup.
He said going purely by the spirit of Lodha recommendations, this too could be considered conflict of interest.
"Based on this order there could be complaints against active players also. They can now apply their mind and be ready for that situation. I have not barred anybody (from commentating). I have only decided what Conflict of Interest means as per the BCCI constitution.
"It is for the players to think whether it applies to them or not. It is the first time I have examined the rules and have given my interpretation (in the order), I don't know if it would be accepted by the Board. If someone wants to challenge it he can challenge it," he said.
Ganguly set to complete his World Cup broadcast commitments
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly is all set to complete his broadcasting commitments for the World Cup even as Justice DK Jain's latest observation on 'Conflict of Interest' has raised quite a few eyebrows.
Justice Jain has observed that players/ex-players doing commentary as well as holding management positions in IPL teams will come under the ambit of 'Conflict of Interest' as per Lodha Panel's 'One Person One Post' rule.
He has ruled that Ganguly and VVS Laxman holding twin jobs of being Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) members and mentors with IPL franchises amounts to conflict of interest and the two former players will have to make a choice.
It is, however, learnt that Ganguly, one of the most respected voices in international cricket, will be completing his World Cup assignment as it is an exclusive contract with the ICC and not Star Sports.
"Sourav is doing commentary for the world feed. He has no contractual obligations with the Star Sports. And this is his only one-off broadcasting assignment for the time being for the ICC. He will certainly complete his World Cup assignment. He is not doing the Afghanistan match as he is back in Kolkata for some personal work," a BCCI source privy to the development he said on conditions of anonymity.
"But Sourav is going to be back in UK on June 25 and do the remaining India games starting the match on 27th against West Indies in Manchester," the source said.
According to those, who hold a contrary view as to how "commentator can be a BCCI post" since this is one tournament and with no long-term contract with any of the channels, Ganguly can't be termed 'conflicted'.
Regarding those who are contracted with Star Sports for the tournament, this may be a one-off event that they are doing and most of them have contracts on a series to series basis.
"Most of the current or former players, who are being perceived to be conflicted need not worry as things will change after the World Cup. It will depend on what kind of assignments they take," the BCCI source said.
