Sport in non-compliant states like Haryana will not be affected: Rai

New Delhi, September 16 

Non-compliant state units such as Tamil Nadu and Haryana risk losing their voting rights in the BCCI but their cricketing activities will not be affected after the elections, CoA chief Vinod Rai said here today. The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA), which last week extended the deadline of holding state elections by two weeks to September 28, had issued an ultimatum to the state bodies to put their houses in order by September 12.

Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh came on board at the 11th hour and decided to comply with the CoA’s directive on constitutional amendments, leaving only four out of 38 associations non-compliant ahead of the state elections. Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand also remain non-compliant. The state elections will be followed by the BCCI elections on October 22.

“It is up to them (if they don’t want to be part of the BCCI AGM). The deadline is already over. We are going ahead with the elections on September 28 and October 22. Whichever association has not complied, we will ensure their cricketing activities are not affected,” said Rai after a CoA meeting here.

If Tamil Nadu and Haryana end up losing their voting rights, BCCI will most likely form an ad-hoc body to run the cricketing affairs in the two states. Tamil Nadu has already gone to court, saying BCCI elections can’t be held unless its plea is heard. However, Rai said: “Once the election process begins, the court doesn’t intervene. Elections will be held on time, there is no doubt about that.” — PTI