CAN approves statute with amendment

Kathmandu, August 22

The Special General Assembly of Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) today approved the new statute with amendment.

According to General Secretary Ashok Nath Pyakurel, the inclusion of 17 elected officials of the current committee and seven nominees was the major amendment passed by the assembly. The Nepal Advisory Committee — formed by the International Cricket Council to resolve the crisis in cricket through new statute — had prepared the draft as per the guidelines. The ICC suspended the membership of CAN in April last year after the National Sports Council formed the hoc committee without giving approval to the elected body.

The elected committee moved the Supreme Court, which is yet to give the final verdict, and the ICC formed Nepal Advisory Committee with an aim of ending disputes. The Committee came into controversy after the elected committee officials refused to be a part of it but later President Chatur Bahadur Chand and General Secretary Pyakurel came in after the ICC agreed on the amendment of the previous statute rather than preparing a new one. Pyakurel said the participation in the Special General Assembly was enthusiastic and all the matters were thoroughly discussed. “The discussions went for hours and the members had some reservations on certain points. At the end the statute was easily approved with some amendment,” said Pyakurel.

“The major concern was the role of the current office bearers who were elected from the previous General Assembly and some other persons who have made contribution in cricket,” said Pyakurel. “The meeting agreed to include 17 elected members and seven others who have made significant contribution in Nepali cricket in the next General Assembly. They will not have voting rights but they can run for elections if they want,” said Pyakurel. The draft sent by the ICC had no such provision.

Under the new provision, an independent committee would be formed to conduct elections in all three levels — districts, province and centre — and look after cricket issues until the new committee is elected. The committee will have two representatives from the ICC and one each from Asian Cricket Council, Youth and Sports Ministry, Nepal Advisory Committee, NSC and elected body.

According to Pyakurel, the independent committee will have to complete the whole procedures within 105 days once the statute gets approval. “We will now send the amended statute to the NSC and it is up to them to approve it,” said Pyakurel. “If the statute gets approved, the independent committee will hold the district level elections within 45 days. The elections in provinces should be held within next 30 days and it can take another 30 days to elect the central committee,” he added.

Pyakurel also informed that the Special General Meeting decided to remove the educational and age bar in the statute. “As this is completely volunteer job, the meeting wanted the caps to be removed from the statute,” he added. The draft had the provision of Bachelor’s Degree to contest for the posts of president, general secretary and treasurer.