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Suspended HCA trio cry foul, appeal to KCR

Three EC members want an inquiry into HCA’s affairs and an ad hoc committee to run the Association in the meantime.

Hyderabad: Accusing the top echelon of the Hyderabad Cricket Association of underhanded financial dealings, C. Babu Rao, Chitti Sridhar and R.M. Bhaskar — the three suspended HCA Executive Committee members — on Wednesday sought a detailed inquiry by the state into the affairs of the cricket body.

The three contend they were suspended circumventing procedure for raising uncomfortable questions related to finances. “We appeal to the Chief Minister to look into the matter and safeguard the interests of cricket lovers in the state. Administration has gone awry. There is an urgent need to order an inquiry into HCA’s affairs and constitute an ad hoc committee to run the Association,” said Bhaskar addressing a press conference.

Incidentally, the CM’s son and state cabinet minister K. T. Rama Rao is the patron of the HCA and has recently spoken about the need to improve the state of affairs in the body.

The three suspended members are also planning to meet the BCCI authorities and present their case. Earlier, this month, they had written a letter dated December 16, 2015, to the BCCI president, urging him to appoint an observer to ensure the funds allocated to the HCA are spent only towards “meeting administrative expenses and for purposes directly connected with cricket development activities.”

This letter, to the BCCI boss, was sent alongside a similar letter addressed to HCA president Arshad Ayub. Alleging that Ayub’s “unilateral decisions have now landed the Association in a precarious financial position”, the three signatories said, “We strongly feel this situation could have been avoided had you respected the opinion of the majority of the EC members and not diverted funds for unnecessary expenditure.”

The “unnecessary expenditure” included civil works to convert corporate boxes into personnel office rooms when office rooms were already available, sprucing up the offices by purchasing furniture, landscaping works, inflated food bills and indiscriminate appointments to various posts which escalated administrative expenditure manifold.

“This is in complete contrast to the ‘Cricket First’ slogan the (Arshad Ayub) panel got elected on,” said Bhaskar. They also pointed to conflict of interest as some of the office-bearers run private coaching camps. “Players from those centres are being preferred when it comes to selecting state teams,” they alleged.

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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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