KATHMANDU, Sept 28: The Special General Assembly of suspended Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) and the election process to elect new leadership of the CAN was inaugurated in Kathmandu on Friday.
Sports Minister Jagat Bahadur Bishwakarma, Member Secretary of National Sports Council (NSC) Ramesh Silwal, both the candidates vying for the CAN presidency, Chatur Bahadur Chand and Binay Raj Pandey, provincial representatives, members of the Independent Panel formed by the International Cricket Council (ICC), Lekh Bahadur Chhetri, Neeteesha Kothari and Amar Sekh, among others, were present during the official ceremony.
As the election is scheduled for Saturday, both the panels have announced candidates from their respective teams for key posts.
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From Chand’s panel, Ashok Nath Pyakurel is contesting for the post of general secretary, Raju Babu Shrestha for vice-presidency and Roshan Kumar Singh is contesting for the post of treasurer.
From Pandey-led panel, Province 1’s president Mingma Dandu Sherpa is contesting for vice-president, while Province 5’s Binod Mainali and Upendra Bhattarai are going to compete for general-secretary and treasurer respectively.
Sports Minister Bishwakarma while addressing the inaugural function urged one and all to work together and give up any vested interests for the betterment of the sports sector in the country.
“The Ministry of Sports has full support for fair and healthy election. Whichever group comes in the new leadership, that should make winning more gold medals in the upcoming South Asian Games (SAG) its priority. It will help for the development of the sports in the country,” he said.
NSC Member Secretary Silwal also asked all those involved in election to compete for the posts in a healthy and professional way. He urged all the stakeholders to work for the revival of CAN, which has been suspended by the ICC, citing government interference in its internal affairs.
The CAN statute has made it mandatory to include a member each from seven provinces in the central working committee. All the members are set to be elected through votes by 59 representatives. The new body of CAN will consist of 17 members including a president, vice-president and general secretary.
The new leadership will be elected for four years whereas it is expected that ICC will reinstate CAN after the international body’s meeting scheduled for October 13.
Final results for the presidency of new governing body and members of central working committee are scheduled to be announced on Saturday.
