Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Cricket Association held its Apex Council meeting over a Zoom call on today (May 4) due to the ongoing pandemic. Although President Mohammed Azharuddin had expressed his objections to the meeting being conducted, the council members felt that urgent matters could not be put off any longer.
Some important and pending issues were finalised and in the absence of the President Mohammed Azharuddin, the meeting was chaired by the Vice President John Manoj.
Speaking to siasat.com John Manoj explained the urgency of the meeting that had to be held. “There were a few important points that had to be discussed today. We could not put it off indefinitely. The administration of the HCA cannot be put on hold because we do not know when this coronavirus problem will end. We had to issue letters to the committee members who had been appointed and also clear payments that were pending for a long time,” said John Manoj.
“Payments had to be made to coaches, managers and support staff and we took up these matters that were there on the agenda and passed them. The Treasurer has been instructed to release funds to carry out these payments. Then the minutes of the AGM have to be published and the BCCI has to be informed of the same. All matters on the agenda were discussed and finalised.”
“Those who attended the meeting over zoom call were Secretary R.Vijayanand, Joint Secretary Naresh Sharma, Treasurer K. Agarwal and Councillor P. Anuradha and I (John Manoj) as Vice President. I am glad to say that all went well and some work was completed. We have been elected to get work done and we must do that instead of sitting and arguing about allegations,” said John Manoj.
Meanwhile, the HCA President Mohammed Azharuddin has issued a statement to explain his reasons why the Apex Council meeting should not have been convened at this stage. “I am given to understand that some tainted members of the Apex Council who are facing inquiry have scheduled a meeting of the Council in violation of the HCA constitution. It is indicative of the collapse of the administration of the HCA,” the statement read.
“All I want to say is that let us go by the constitution. All those facing an inquiry should get their names cleared before administration can resume. It is unfortunate that those facing charges want to sit in the Council meetings by painting themselves white. I will use all legal means to prevent the collapse of moral and ethical governance in the HCA,” said Azhar.
Abhijit Sen Gupta is a seasoned journalist who writes on Sports and various other subjects.