KATHMANDU, Dec 21: The elected committee of Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), which was later suspended by International Cricket Council (ICC) in April, held its fifth annual general assembly (AGA) in the capital on Tuesday.
The general assembly was participated by handful of Nepali Congress leaders including Defense Minister Bal Krishna Khand and also representatives of National Sports Council besides delegates of CAN.
The ICC had suspended CAN’s membership three months after National Sports Council dissolved the elected CAN in January earlier this year and formed an ad hoc committee. Since the suspension of CAN, the ICC has been directly taking care of Nepal’s international cricketing activities.
The annual general assembly has decided to appeal to the NSC and the ICC to amend the decision of suspending CAN and reinstate the committee. Similarly, the AGA has also decided to relieve CAN’s Chief Operating Officer Chhumbi Lama from his duty due to his unsatisfactory performance. It has also decided to hold a national level cricket tournament in memory of its late vice president Tarini Bikram Shah.
ICC holds meeting with suspended CAN
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the general assembly, General Secretary Ashok Nath Pyakurel vented ire upon the National Sports Council and the ICC, holding them responsible for pushing Nepali cricket into darkness.
“In the past one year, we did nothing except fight for our existence. We had held the election with the presence of more than 90 percent valid representatives but the NSC objected to the election,” Pyakurel said. “Who is running the cricket of the country currently?” he questioned. “The NSC must answer who is using the funds of Nepali cricket and for what purpose.”
The elected CAN President Chatur Bahadur Chand said that the Advisory Committee formed by the ICC will not come up with a solution to the problems faced by Nepali cricket. “No one is above the established norms and laws. Even the court has not given justice as giving verdict late is like not giving justice,” he said.
National Sports Council Treasurer Surendra Hamal said that the elected CAN had become victim of political biasness, pointing to NSC Member Secretary Keshav Kumar Bista without naming him.
CAN controversy SAGA
The electoral general assembly of the CAN had elected a 17-member executive committee for a four-year term through a controversial midnight election on December 14 last year under the leadership of Chatur Bahadur Chand. The National Sports Council (NSC) had strongly objected to the election and even the outgoing President Tanka Angbuhang had boycotted it.
In response to the election, the sports governing body of the country, NSC, had dissolved the CAN and formed an ad hoc committee in January. Following the formation of the ad hoc committee, the elected body had filed a case at the Patan Appellate Court. Nevertheless, the court issued an interim order and directed both the bodies -- elected and ad hoc -- not to undertake any assignment until the final verdict.
Later in April, the ICC suspended the membership of CAN citing governmental interference and court case. In October, the world cricket governing body formed a six-member ICC advisory committee with a view to ‘solve crisis of Nepali cricket’. A month after that ICC named former CAN President Binay Raj Pandey and industrialist Basanta Chaudhary as the co-conveners of the advisory committee.
The Committee was given a roadmap to draft a new statute of the cricket governing body of the country and facilitate in holding a fresh election by July 2017. The ICC had also proposed General Secretary Ashok Nath Pyakurel of the elected CAN to join the committee. But the elected committee refused the ICC’s proposal citing that the actions were against the established norms and it would only institutionalized government interference.
