Conflict of interest issue likely to be discussed at COA meet

The thorny issue of conflict of interest is likely to be discussed in the COA meeting here on Saturday after the BCCI ethics officer D K Jain asked VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly to choose one out of the multiple cricketing roles they are performing at the moment.

Keeping the soul of the Lodha reforms in mind one person one post -- former Supreme Court judge Jain ruled that ex-India batsman Laxman will have to choose one role out of three he is involved with currently.

He is a member of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), from which has offered to step down, mentor of IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad and a commentator.

It also affects Ganguly, who too is commentating in the World Cup besides being a CAC member, Bengal cricket boss and advisor of IPL side Delhi Capitals. The Committee of Adinistrators (COA) are expected to deliberate on Jain's order in the meeting on Saturday.

Based on Jain's order, which the BCCI will have to enforce, even current players like Irfan Pathan, Parthiv Patel and Robin Uthappa could be barred from commentating. All three are involved as World Cup experts on various platforms.

"Much more clarity is needed on conflict of interest. Where does it start and where does it end? I don't see anything wrong in active players who are not playing for India doing commentary while they are not busy with domestic cricket," a BCCI source told PTI.

Speaking to PTI, Jain had said last week: "There may be some fallout (of this order). Based on this order, there could complaints against active players also. So they can apply their minds and be ready for that situation."
"I have not barred anybody (from commentating), I have only decided what conflict of interest means as per the BCCI constitution. Rule 38 of the constitution bars one from holding of multiple posts at one point of time. I have done nothing else, I have only interpreted the constitution."