Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) joint Secretary Subir 'Bablu' Ganguly contended on Monday that the association's image had been "turnished [sic] on trumped up charges" after ToI reported around 8000 priced tickets for the ODI against Sri Lanka, played at the Eden Gardens on November 13 last year, had been converted into complimentaries without the nod of the working committee.
Decision to convert tickets into free passes unanimous: CAB jt secy
In a letter to us on Monday, Ganguly described CAB's decision to convert unsold priced tickets into complimentaries as an 'honest' one which was taken "unanimously by all the Office Bearers as well as host of Senior Members of the Association 48 hours prior to the match."
TOI stands by its report entitled "CAB turned priced tickets into free passes" which highlighted the fact that CAB, by choosing to convert priced tickets worth Rs 57 lakh into complimentaries, not only forfeited a significant amount of revenue but also set a bad precedent by distributing free passes among its members and member units which had refused to pick up their quota of priced tickets.
In his letter, Ganguly has claimed "the Affiliated Units, Office-Bearers, Members of the Working Committee and Sub-Committee, Schools and Coaching Centres collected the tickets." However, by choosing to withhold names of specific members or institutions which received free passes, Ganguly has sought to spread confusion and distrust all round.
For example, it is not clear whether office-bearers like Sourav Ganguly (joint secretary) and Biswarup Dey (treasurer) were also given free passes. At least two CAB office-bearers told TOI on Monday that they had neither been consulted on the issue nor had they received any complimentary passes for the November 13 match. A CAB insider pointed out that if all Working Committee members had indeed been given free passes, they would have no moral authority to question the decision.
In his rejoinder to TOI, Ganguly also not only fails to mention names of specific officials or members with whom this issue (conversion of tickets into passes) was discussed, but also did not give any indication why such an important decision (to forego rev enue) had not been ratified by the working committee a must under CAB rules.
A former CAB president and a past joint-secretary, who also held a senior position in the BCCI for a while, both con firmed that under association rules all decisions need to be ratified by the working committee.
"The CAB is not a mutual admiration society. It has well established rules and norms that need to be followed. I am shocked to learn that no Working Committee meeting was held since July last year," said a former CAB official. Ganguly further states in his letter: "It is also untrue to allege that a memo was generated in February 2015 as a part of purported ratification by the undersigned. It is normal practice for due certification of utilization of tickets."
TOI, which is in possession of a copy of that memo dated February 23, 2015, had merely wondered whether the reason behind generating the memo belatedly to ratify the conversion of priced tickets into complimentaries was to meet auditing needs. The memo (Ref No SLIO35416515) issued and signed by Ganguly states: "This is to certify that 5332 tickets and 3050 tickets of Rs 500 & and Rs 1000 denominations respectively in connection with the 4th ODI match (DN) between India & Sri Lanka held on 13th November 2014 at Eden Gardens have been converted into 'Complimentary Tickets'. In spite of being the lone signatory to the memo, Ganguly claimed that all Office Bearers and Senior Members had not only taken the decision unanimously but had also received complimentary tickets. Wednesday's working committee meeting should throw up even more surprises."Sourav to skip IPL GC meetCricket Association of Bengal (CAB) honorary joint secretaries Sourav Ganguly and Subir (Bablu) Ganguly will give the IPL Governing Coun cil meeting a miss. The meeting, which is scheduled in New Delhi on Wednesday, is clashing with CAB's working committee meeting. "Yes the (IPL) meeting is clashing with our working committee meeting. I will be at tending the WC here," Sourav told TOI on Monday. Sourav, who will be leaving for a vacation in Europe on Saturday, will be back for the BCCI advisory committee meeting in the last week of this month.Subir has opted for the same option as Sourav. "I have already informed the (IPL) chairman (Rajeev Shukla) that I will not be able to attend the meeting on that day," Subir informed.
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