Almost bankrupt DDCA requests BCCI for INR 2 crores

The Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) has often been in the news for wrong reasons in the recent times. It comes as no surprise that the cricket board is facing severe financial conundrums. As per the recent reports in the Deccan Chronicle, the DDCA has requested the BCCI to sanction a payment of INR 2 crores. The board is apparently facing the financial crisis due to which they have a lot of bills to clear at the moment. The DDCA requested the BCCI CEO Rahul Johri to make the payment for the ODI against New Zealand on an ad-hoc basis.

Delhi had hosted the second ODI of the five-match ODI series against New Zealand last year on October 20. They have made the plea through the observer Justice (Retd) Mukul Mudgal for the release of the payment. The treasurer of the Delhi board, Mr. Ravinder Manchanda, confirmed the same news and admitted that the board is facing a cash crunch at the moment. They are yet to clear the salaries of the officials for the month of December 2016. Not only that but also the hotel bills, electricity bills and the TDS is yet to be cleared.

“We have intimated Justice Mudgal about current scenario and requested him to write to CEO Johri so that he releases our funds on an ad-hoc basis. We need to pay electricity bills, TDS, hotel bills and we only have Rs 15 lakh left in the current account of DDCA. The staff is yet to be paid their salary for the month of December,” Manchanda quoted in PTI.

Delhi has not been in the best of news since the abandoned ODI against Sri Lanka in 2009. Later, the DDCA had a herculean task of convincing the BCCI that the venue at Delhi is fit for hosting the 2011 ICC World Cup and most recently, the ICC World T20 2016. Amidst all this, the recent sacking of BCCI officials might affect the request made by the Delhi board. It will be interesting to see if the Lodha Panel allows the BCCI CEO to make the sanction or not.