HCA President Faces New Charges

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), which is mired in a plethora of controversies with accusations ranging from black-marketing of tickets to not appointing committees ahead of the recent IPL matches, had another shocker when its joint secretary T. Basava Raju shot off an open letter to its president A. Jagan Mohan Rao listing various violations of guidelines and norms.

After it came to their notice, many senior government officials have reportedly expressed serious concern over the infighting and gross failure of the HCA in performing its duties as the `custodian of the glorious game of cricket in Hyderabad and Telangana.’

Though the new cricket season is about to start, the HCA is yet to come up with a response to the charges.

Although, the apex council has to take decisions and the final call, reportedly only a few members, who call the shots, are taking all the decisions and acting as per their whims and fancies.

In his letter, Basava Raju urged Jagan Mohan Reddy to respect the apex council and take decisions by involving all stakeholders. He pointed out that the annual general meeting (AGM) agenda had been passed without the approval of the apex council.

During the recent IPL matches, no tenders had been called to award contracts. The contracts, running into huge amounts, were eventually given without the knowledge of the apex council, Raju charged.

Ever since Jagan Mohan Rao, an entrepreneur and secretary-general of the Handball Association of India, was elected to the HCA post during the BRS regime, the cricket body has been facing criticism. Rao is said to be close to the previous BRS government.

Basava Raju asked Rao to share details of every activity along with the summary statement of payments made.

Talking to Deccan Chronicle, Basava Raju said that he has placed all the facts in his open letter but nothing had come of it. Any payment and expenditure, which is in excess of `25 lakh, must be enumerated and uploaded on the website of HCA. But, nothing of that sort has been done, even after spending huge amounts to host the IPL matches.

Former HCA president Mohd. Azharuddin told Deccan Chronicle that the HCA was flouting all norms and the apex council was not functioning in a fair and transparent manner. The selection of vendors during the IPL was carried out without calling for tenders and the process was based on personal choices.

About 30 per cent of tickets are earmarked for cricket clubs, former cricketers, government agencies and others. But, none of them got tickets during the IPL matches, the former India captain said.

Azharuddin expressed concern that HCA did not conduct the prestigious Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi T20 tournament, which served as the perfect platform for budding players to showcase their skills and get noticed.