Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) is the governing body looking after cricket in Mumbai. As per its constitution, international players are its members and have voting rights.
In the latest developments inside the MCA, they are mulling over abolishing the voting rights of international players.
The MCA has called for a general body meeting on Friday, 29th July, to discuss proposed changes to its constitution.
If they do so, it could see players like Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, and Dilip Vengsarkar lose their voting rights as well.
The association said that it sent a notice to its members about the proposed changes. Besides this, the board also wants to allow individuals above 70 to hold positions. Adding on, it seeks a secretary to run the association rather than a CEO.
As per Supreme Court directives based on the suggestions by the Lodha committee, it mentioned that no individual beyond the age of 70 should be allowed a position. It also said that a CEO would handle the association’s daily affairs.
The MCA, in their statement, said, “No individual members like Patron members, donor members, etc. have any voting rights. Also, the Lodha Committee had only recommended that International players should be granted memberships of the Association.”
By the statement, it is trying to say that the committee only suggested international players be granted membership but never talked about giving them voting rights. Further, MCA has allowed international players to take part in the meetings and contribute their views.
Talking about other suggestions by the committee, the MCA had differing views.
They said, “Disqualification based on age is neither fair nor practical. There are many examples of administrators who have served the game of cricket beyond the age of 70 years. MCA owes much of its success to the great leadership of administrators who contributed to the Association even after they were 70 years old. MCA strongly feels that the game should not be deprived of their expertise.”
Although for the MCA to implement any changes in its constitution, they first need to get approval from the Supreme Court.