Hyderabad: Former BCCI president Shivlal Yadav and former Hyderabad Cricket Association presidents Arshad Ayub and G Vinod have accused incumbent HCA President and former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin of taking bribes from players in lieu of cricket matches. Addressing a press conference on Monday, Shivlal, Arshad and Vinod flanked by former secretaries of HCA, Seshnarayana and John Manoj expressed their anger that Azhar is not leaving the chair despite his tenure ending on September 26.
They accused Azhar of taking Rs 15 lakh per match from players. "In the last three years, the reputation of HCA has been completely tarnished. The selection of players in Under-14, 16, 19, 22 and senior teams was done by taking Rs 15 lakhs per match. They are charging Rs 3 lakhs for the age limit certificate.
According to the rules, a maximum of 15 players should be selected for the team.. 30 players are being sent to the tournaments,” they said. They said that the report submitted to the Supreme Court by the chairman of the Supervisory committee appointed by the apex court about irregularities in the HCA is “100 per cent true”.
Over Azhar accusing the Chairman of the Committee, Justice Nissar Ahmed Kakru of 'Conflict of Interest', the trio said that Azhar was making unnecessary accusations against Justice Kakru adding Azhar was “threatening the secretaries of the clubs not to go to meetings organised against him.” ''Does the conflict of interest clause apply to Vanka Pratap in the Supervisory Committee? He is the director of HCA Academy. His daughter plays for the Hyderabad team. He is also on the supervisory committee. How is this possible?” they asked.
The trio argued that Azhar's tenure ended on September 26 and according to the rules, AGM should be held and the date of the election should be announced. “The HCA rules say that in such a case the secretaries of the clubs can hold a special AGM. We had a meeting a month and a half ago. A special AGM will be held at the Uppal Stadium on December 11 to announce the election date and returning officer.
"We informed the Supervisory Committee about the same,” they said. They alleged that in Telangana, “New working groups are being formed for new districts with Collectors and SPs, which is against the recommendations of the Justice Lodha Committee and BCCI rules”. The Supreme Court had back on August 22, formed a Supervisory Committee led by Kakru (former Chief Justice of Andhra High Court), Anjani Kumar, DG (ACB) Telangana State, former cricketers Venkatapathy Raju and Vanka Pratap.
The committee was formed to ensure the smooth administrative functioning of HCA, which has witnessed internal squabbling among its senior members for years. Azhar, in a strongly worded letter to the members of the Supreme Court-appointed Supervisory Committee, recently accused its chairman Justice (retired) Nissar Ahmed Kakru of a 'Conflict of Interest'.
