Diana Edulji Blasts BCCI for Delaying Players’ Dues

Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators’ (CoA) member, Diana Edulji expressed her concern and surprise at the contracts stuck with the office-bearers and also highlighted the condition of the players.

Meanwhile, she has laid the blame for the delay squarely on acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary.

Talking to Indian Express, Diana expressed in detail the reason behind the delay thus accusing Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

“The players were worried that they were not getting their dues. And we couldn’t pay it till they signed the contract. The IPL was coming and we had to do the contracts because insurance was a big issue. And with the IPL workload, if we could have had some problems, like in the past we had with Yuvraj Singh and Ashish Nehra, whose dues we as CoA cleared,” she said.

Diana also added that agents are calling as they have to fill the return with the financial year coming to an end. Although stating that players know their grade, she said they can’t take it for granted.

“The contracts are still stuck with them. The financial year is coming to an end. The players’ agents are ringing us up that they have to fill their returns and pay advance tax. Though the players know their grade, they can’t take it for granted till it’s in black and white,” Edulji added.

Choudhary, meanwhile, cleared the air about his decision to not sign the new contracts. He stated that he hasn’t had the legitimate authority to do so.

However, Diana didn’t buy the logic and cited an event from last year to justify her point.

In conclusion, Diana Edulji said that they are brought by the players and their priority should come first.

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