The arrest of Goa Cricket Association president Chetan Desai, secretary Vinod Phadke and treasurer, Akbar Mulla on charges of misappropriating funds, has given cricket in Goa a bad name. The three have been charged with siphoning off Rs 2.87 crore from an account in DCB Bank through 50 transactions between April 2007 and March 2008. Another charge against them is that Rs 5.14 crore received in 2008 has not been accounted. The arrests were made in response to a complaint filed by Vilas Desai, life member of the GCA. That misappropriation of such a high order went unnoticed for nearly eight years shows how the association, entrusted with the welfare of cricket in the state, is run “ with an iron hand and total lack of transparency and accountability.
Of course it wouldn’t be right to presume the three accused guilty of fraud. On the contrary they are innocent until proven guilty, but the fact does remain that huge sums of money were siphoned out and the three have to explain how this happened because no one buys the explanation that some unknown persons did it by forging their signatures and documents. Officials at the bank are also under the scanner because a fraud of this magnitude could not have been perpetrated without help from a senior banker. There clearly is more than meets the eye and a thorough probe into GCA accounts and the personal accounts of the three arrested persons and their cohorts alone will bring the truth to light.
It would not be wrong to say that the GCA is run in the same fashion as the parent body, BCCI. The GCA uses funds to control clubs and literally buys their allegiance and silence. The result is, no club is willing to stand up to the GCA and fraud of a very high magnitude is safely swept under the carpet. Local cricket associations are totally dependent on funds from the GCA and this makes them vulnerable to pressure. This system gives the GCA managing committee immense power and virtually creates a monopoly in its favour.
The issue of creating monopolies came up during the hearing of the BCCI case in the Supreme Court in April. The Bench had observed, "You (BCCI) are running a prohibitory regime which is spread across the country. If a player has to play cricket he has to be with you. You have complete monopoly. You have monopoly over members and you prevent people from becoming members." It was in light of this situation that the Bench suggested one state, one vote, which was vehemently opposed by Maharashtra and Gujarat. The GCA is no different. If a club is not on its side, it will be starved of funds and any player emerging from that club will have his career nipped in the bud. The misappropriation of funds is a symptom of a system where power is concentrated in the hands of a few.
When suggesting reforms, the Supreme court had taken the stand that it was doing so because the BCCI was performing a public function. The GCA also performs a public function and hence, needs to be under greater scrutiny by the BCCI, the State government and the courts. For the GCA to function with greater transparency and accountability, the stranglehold it has over the fate of clubs needs to be broken and this is probably, the best time to do it or mismanagement which resulted in the present mess will be repeated.
