Khanna finds himself embroiled in another passes affair
NEW DELHI: The dust raised over BCCI's acting president CK Khanna's penchant for match tickets refuses to settle down. After BCCI's acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary took strong objection over Khanna's overbearing attitude towards handling match tickets distribution, another glaring incident has come to the light. In a strongly worded letter to the chairman of the Committee of Administrator Vinod Rai, president of the Vidharbha Cricket Association Anand Jaiswal complained how Khanna used his office to bring in unwanted guests for the 5th ODI match between India and Australia on October 1.
"In the recently conducted ODI at Nagpur on the 1st of October 2017 we were therefore surprised to receive two communications from CK Khanna which were addressed to the match observer. One was directing some tickets of the BCCI President's Box to be given to Prakash Dixit our Past President. The second was a similar communication to give some tickets of the BCCI President's Box to one Sunil Mishra. Dixit informed me that he had never asked Khanna to give him any tickets and that this was done by Khanna of his own volition," Jaiswal wrote to Rai while explaining the incident.
"Dixit did not give any of the tickets allotted to him by Khanna to anyone. But that was only because Dixit was our past president and aware of the sanctity of the box. However, on the tickets given to Mishra a group of persons entered and occupied the BCCI President's Box. These persons were in no way concerned with either playing the game of cricket or with cricket administration. They were mere spectators. Thus, the sanctity of the BCCI President's Box was violated by this rash act of Khanna," the letter read.
Jaiswal also expressed strong reservations against Khanna's act and said: "I would like to strongly protest against such an act by the acting president of the BCCI. He (Khanna) of all the persons should have been aware of the sanctity of the BCCI President's Box in any cricket stadium. It is not a viewing gallery for all and sundry. Such acts of distributing seats of the BCCI President's Box to all and sundry should never have been done by anyone, least of all by the Acting President. I request you to ensure that such incidents do not take place in the future."
When TOI spoke to Khanna, he refuted the charges and said that he knows his job well and won't distribute match passes to all and sundry. "I know my responsibility and this kind of propaganda is nothing but witch-hunting. If I have given ticket to you for your colleagues, have I gone and checked on who actually got the tickets for the game?" Khanna asked.
Sources said that the matter was taken in the CoA meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday, where it was decided to hear Khanna's side of the story. It was also revealed that CoA would revise the quota of match passes of BCCI president and secretary who get 50 and 75 passes respectively. And soon, only 10 per cent of the match tickets would be distributed as complimentary as opposed to unaccounted passes.
Jaiswal also explained how BCCI's President's Box has been treated as most prestigious in the past. "The VCA has a BCCI President's Box which has always been treated as the most prestigious sitting area in the stadium. Only the President of BCCI, Office bearers of the BCCI and other guests of note, who have contributed to cricket or cricket administration are invited to this Box. The sanctity of this box has always been maintained and in the absence of such guests the Box has never been opened for other persons.
The dust raised over BCCI's acting president CK Khanna's penchant for match tickets refuses to settle down.
After BCCI's acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary took strong objection over Khanna's overbearing attitude towards handling match tickets distribution, another glaring incident has come to the light.
In a strongly worded letter to the chairman of the Committee of Administrators Vinod Rai, president of the Vidharbha Cricket Association Anand Jaiswal complained how Khanna used his office to bring in unwanted guests for the 5th ODI match between India and Australia on October 1.
"In the recently conducted ODI at Nagpur on the 1st of October 2017 we were therefore surprised to receive two communications from CK Khanna which were addressed to the match observer. One was directing some tickets of the BCCI President's Box to be given to Prakash Dixit our Past President. The second was a similar communication to give some tickets of the BCCI President's Box to one Sunil Mishra. Dixit informed me that he had never asked Khanna to give him any tickets and that this was done by Khanna of his own volition," Jaiswal wrote to Rai while explaining the incident.
"Dixit did not give any of the tickets allotted to him by Khanna to anyone. But that was only because Dixit was our past president and aware of the sanctity of the box. However, on the tickets given to Mishra a group of persons entered and occupied the BCCI President's Box. These persons were in no way concerned with either playing the game of cricket or with cricket administration. They were mere spectators. Thus, the sanctity of the BCCI President's Box was violated by this rash act of Khanna," the letter read.
Jaiswal also expressed strong reservations against Khanna's act and said: "I would like to strongly protest against such an act by the acting president of the BCCI. He (Khanna) of all the persons should have been aware of the sanctity of the BCCI President's Box in any cricket stadium. It is not a viewing gallery for all and sundry. Such acts of distributing seats of the BCCI President's Box to all and sundry should never have been done by anyone, least of all by the Acting President. I request you to ensure that such incidents do not take place in the future.
"When TOI spoke to Khanna, he refuted the charges and said that he knows his job well and won't distribute match passes to all and sundry. "I know my responsibility and this kind of propaganda is nothing but witch-hunting. If I have given ticket to you for your colleagues, have I gone and checked on who actually got the tickets for the game?" Khanna asked.
Sources said that the matter was taken in the CoA meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday, where it was decided to hear Khanna's side of the story. It was also revealed that CoA would revise the quota of match passes of BCCI president and secretary who get 50 and 75 passes respectively. And soon, only 10 per cent of the match tickets would be distributed as complimentary as opposed to unaccounted passes.Jaiswal also explained how BCCI's President's Box has been treated as most prestigious in the past.
"The VCA has a BCCI President's Box which has always been treated as the most prestigious sitting area in the stadium. Only the President of BCCI, Office bearers of the BCCI and other guests of note, who have contributed to cricket or cricket administration are invited to this Box. The sanctity of this box has always been maintained and in the absence of such guests the Box has never been opened for other persons."
(Courtesy: The Times of India)
