HYDERABAD: Are the funds given by the BCCI to the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) meant for the promotion of cricket and cricketers or is it for the welfare of the office-bearers of the clubs/institutions affiliated to the cricket body?
In Annexure B of the report submitted by Justice (retd) L Nageswara Rao to the Supreme Court on October 29, Kode Durga Prasad, former DG (CRPF), who was assisting Rao in the administration of the HCA for the last few months, highlighted this problem in his 12-page report and implied that the clubs/institutions are holding the HCA for ransom.
“Financially, the sources of income for the HCA are limited. Member clubs contribute a meagre amount towards registration, the highest amount being Rs 3000 for the 3-day league registration. Almost the entire amount of running of the HCA comes from the BCCI by way of match subsidy, development subsidy etc. While the money from BCCI is meant for promotion of cricketing activity, the office-bearers and the presidents and secretaries of member clubs deem it their right to use the funds for their benefits,” he said.
“The funds are distributed to the member clubs indiscriminately. Clubs were paid Rs 3 lakh each in the name of developing cricket, though they did not have grounds or employed any coaches etc. for promoting cricket. Committees such as the League Committee are formed with secretaries/presidents of member clubs. Members of these committees are paid very handsomely,” he said.
“An amount of Rs 67,09,550 was paid to the League Committee for the period April 2020 to March 2022. Similarly, an amount of Rs 29,40,000 was paid for the period April 2022 to October 2023. There is no record of any activity or meetings conducted by them. There are no minutes of meeting of any committee, or any report submitted by them. These are simply distribution of funds in keeping with their election promises,” he noted.
Prasad also said that the contestants for the HCA elections (which was held on October 20) had promised the moon to the members. “This time also the contesting panels promised up to Rs 5 lakh as development fund for each club (there are 217 clubs). Similarly, club secretaries were promised that they will also be engaged as members of various committees and as managers of teams being sent to tournaments. It was seen that in one tournament secretaries of five member clubs were sent as managers for five different days for a tournament with five matches; thus, accommodating five secretaries though the cost of fees, travel cost, etc shot up five times.
“Similar is the case during IPL and international matches. While the members offer honorary services in other associations such as Chennai, HCA engages services of nearly 50 to 70 members for various roles and pays them very handsomely. Such is the distribution to the members of HCA,” wrote Prasad.
Speaking about the misuse of medical insurance, he wrote: “In one year, the HCA paid a huge sum for insurance premium for medical insurance for presidents and secretaries of member clubs, their spouses and two children of each of them. Other the years, HCA has been meeting their medical bills. Approximately Rs 56,00,000 was paid to them as reimbursement for medical expenses. These were paid to them directly and not to the hospitals. In one case the amount was paid to a secretary who is an employee of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and received medical attention from a GHMC Hospital. Instead of claiming medical cover from their own clubs, the presidents and secretaries of member clubs are fleecing HCA. One of the election promises this time is to provide for medical cover for all secretaries and presidents and their families once again.”
