KATHMANDU, Dec 15: The fourth general assembly of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) elected a 17-member executive committee for a four-year term at midnight, Monday under the leadership of Chatur Bahadur Chand.
CAN held the election at midnight as the four-year term of former president Tanka Angbuhang was about to end on Wednesday.
The general assembly was held despite strong objections to the election process from the National Sports Council (NSC) and former CAN president Angbuhang. Angbuhang did not participate in the general assembly despite fixing the date of election during a board meeting chaired by himself.
Although, the NSC said that it will not accept any resolution passed through the general assembly, its board member Binod Kumar Mainali has ironically been elected as the first vice-president of CAN.
Sailesh Kumar Chaudhary and Diwakar Ghale Gurung have been elected as vice-presidents of the cricket governing body while Ashok Nath Pyakurel has retained his position of general secretary.
Ratan Bahadur Kathayat, Hari Regmi, Prasant Bikram Malla, Daud Ansari, Rishi Ram Gautam, Roshan Kumar Singh, Kiran Shumsher Rana, Jayanti Bhatt, Jina Shrestha, Thakur Pratap Thapa, Raju Babu Shrestha and Sanjay Raj Singh were elected members in the committee.
All the members, besides VPs Chaudhary and Gurung, were elected unopposed. Sailesh Rana faced defeat in the election held for the post of VP.
Meanwhile, the NSC on Tuesday reiterated that it will not give any credence to the general assembly organized without fulfilling all the procedures.
NSC Member Secretary Keshab Kumar Bista said that the recently held general assembly of CAN was unacceptable as its president Angbuhang had been saying that the cricket governing body would abide by the procedures laid out by the NSC.
“They are a team trying to privatize the association and we will not entertain the decision. CAN's President Angbuhang himself has formally informed the NSC that the association would follow due process for the election,” said Bista, adding that the sports governing body will take action against the defiant CAN members.
“We will discuss the matter with the government, Ministry of Youth and Sports, International Cricket Council, Asian Cricket Council and take further action,” said Bista.
The NSC is in the process of forming a new cricket board in the country under the leadership of CPN-UML Secretary Yogesh Bhattrai, claiming that the board has a strong backing from the ICC.
The outgoing president Aungbuhang claimed that the election will not get any legitimacy.
Meanwhile, CAN's newly-elected President Chand claimed that he was well aware that the NSC would not support the election process and added that he will knock the door of the court if his committee does not get approval from the NSC.
“CAN decided to hold the election with Angbuhang's decision. However, he stepped back with the motive of getting political benefit,” said Chand.
“We informed all the district and regional delegates on time and asked the election committee of the NSC for overseeing the election process. However,
NSC Member Secretary Bista wanted to replace the association with a board in order to appoint his cadres,” claimed Chand.
Bista was appointed as the NSC member secretary under the CPN-UML quota.
Chand also claimed that the newly-elected committee will get approval from the ICC, the global cricket governing body.
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