Sports
Cricket Crisis: ICC mandates Advisory Group to hold election
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has moved ahead with the proposed Advisory Group giving a mandate to hold free and fair elections of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) by December 31, 2016.The International Cricket Council (ICC) has moved ahead with the proposed Advisory Group giving a mandate to hold free and fair elections of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) by December 31, 2016.
Nepali cricket has been in crisis since April 25 after the world cricket governing body suspended the membership of CAN for its dual existence following disputed elections that saw the government intervene and form an ad-hoc committee. On September 4, a team of ICC headed by its Chief Executive David Richardson in Kathmandu had put forward a roadmap to resolve the existing crisis by proposing an advisory group to pave way for transforming CAN into Nepal Cricket Board.
The advisory group consists of former CAN president Binay Raj Pandey, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Youth and Sports Chooda Mani Poudel, National Sports Council (NSC) press advisor Rohit Dahal, former acting president of CAN Deepak Koirala, businessman Basanta Chaudhary and former skipper Pawan Agrawal.
Elected general secretary of CAN Ashok Nath Pyakurel had refused to join the group.
ICC has made it clear that it will go ahead with the proposed Group sending a Terms of Reference (ToR) to all the members who had agreed to work with the world cricket’s governing body. “The ToR has mandated the group to review and redraft the existing constitution of CAN. After the redrafting is approved, ICC has directed to hold free and fair elections as quickly as possible, but not later than December 31, 2016,” said NSC press advisor Dahal on Wednesday.
However, ICC added that the time scale for the elections may be revised and/or extended at the sole discretion of the ICC, informed Dahal.
The suspension of CAN has resulted in freezing of more than $900,000 in ICC funds meant for the game’s development in Nepal.