At its first post-pandemic physical meeting on Thursday, the BCCI Apex Council tabled the break-up of its non-cricketing expenditure adding up to Rs 22 crore.Rs 7 crore for the advertisement agency that worked on the promotion of Tokyo Olympics in India; Rs 98 lakh for Olympics campaign T-shirts; Rs 70 lakh for singer Mohit Chauhan who composed and sang the inspirational anthem, “Lakshya tere saamne hai, jeet ke aana (The target is in front of you, return as a winner)”, for the Indian contingent. These form a part of the BCCI’s contribution to other sports during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In June 2021, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had decided to extend support to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). “The summer Olympics is scheduled to be held in Tokyo from July 23 to August 8, 2021. The BCCI has decided to support Indian athletes in every form and manner it can. In that spirit, based on the request received from the IOA/ MYAS (Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports), the Apex Council of BCCI has decided to extend support to the Indian Olympic Association and has pledged a monetary gesture of Rs 10 crore,” it had said in a statement.
At its first post-pandemic physical meeting on Thursday, the BCCI Apex Council tabled the break-up of its non-cricketing expenditure adding up to Rs 22 crore.
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The Board listed total Olympics’ expenses of over Rs 18 crore, including Rs 68 lakh to an event management company, Rs 4 crore for cash awards for medalists, and Rs 5 crore for purchase of ‘PM Cares’ mementos for athletes.
Besides these, the BCCI also listed Rs 3.8 crore for funding oxygen concentrators at the peak of the pandemic.
The Apex Council meeting, chaired by BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and attended by secretary Jay Shah, treasurer Arun Dhumal, joint secretary Jayesh George among others, officially approved these expenses.
“It is our responsibility to help other sports. All the members agreed to this expenditure,” said a BCCI official on condition of anonymity.
The Indian board’s new constitution, drafted by the Supreme-Court nominated Lodha Committee, also directs the cricket board to support other sports.
At its meeting, the Apex Council also approved an increase in the prize money for domestic cricket tournaments. At present, the winners of the Ranji Trophy, the country’s premier domestic cricket tournament, get Rs 2 crore. The new prize money is set to be announced soon.
“The Apex Council has decided to give powers to office-bearers to decide on the revised prize money,” said a BCCI official. The decision follows the windfall of Rs 48,390 crore from the sale of IPL media rights.
There were also discussions on introducing the Decision Review System (DRS) in domestic games.
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