New Delhi: Over the last few years, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been grappling with the issue of conflict of interest.
The new BCCI dispensation has now taken it upon itself to deal with this major issue, which has led to several problems for the board in running tournaments like the IPL.
In its bid to clean the image of the sport, the BCCI in July notified all the Board members to sign an undertaking declaring that they do not have 'conflict of interest' while holding functionary posts in their respective cricket associations.
The 'no conflict of interest' clause would include no direct business links with any cricketing affairs in BCCI including interest or stake in IPL teams, sponsorships or looking after specific players' interests.
However, the board is now faced with another such issue after Test skipper Virat Kohli was announced as a co-owner of International Tennis Premier League franchise UAE Royals, with Team India director Ravi Shastri as its advisor.
"I have come to know about this through the media. I will talk to the concerned parties," BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur told the Indian Express on Friday.
When the newspaper contacted Shastri, he denied it being a case of conflict of interest.
"Not at all. What has that got to do with cricket? This is trying to get a team culture going among people who play individual sports. And team branding. Conflict of interest may be if Virat or other stakeholders are Indian tennis captains," he told the the Indian Express.
At a time when the board is looking to set its house in order, they now have to deal with this new association between two integral members of Team India.
