Rahul Dravid has not violated Conflict of Interest Clause clarifies BCCI

COA backs Rahul Dravid against allegations of violating the conflict of interest clause

What's the story?

BCCI’s Committee of Administrators has backed Rahul Dravid against the allegations of violating the conflict of interest clause by coaching the India ‘A’ and U-19 team whilst also mentoring Delhi Daredevils in Indian Premier League (IPL) simultaneously. According to reports from Cricketnext, the COA has marked that Dravid was working as per the existing guidelines of the clause in question.

According to the report, a source close to the situation was quoted as saying, “While the question of conflict is in the air, it is unfair to point fingers at Dravid or any other individual because there was no guideline laid down which stopped the individuals from working with an IPL team and the national team. The COA does realise that it is a case of conflict, but a solution is being worked on. So, as per the contract with Dravid had ahead of this year's IPL, there is no case of violation,” 

In case you didn't know...

Earlier in a letter addressed to the COA, Ramachandra Guha had slammed the committee's failure in dealing with the conflict of interest issues arising from the act of veterans coaching the national cricket team as well as franchises in IPL at the same time. 

Dravid is currently under a ten-month contract with the BCCI which allows him to focus on the Delhi Daredevils during the Indian Premier League. The former great further asserted that he has abided by all the regulations of the prevailing conflict of interest clause and called for more clarity on the issue from the BCCI.

The heart of the matter

Dravid along with several others have a similar coaching agreements with BCCI. The questions regarding the violation of the clause by these players spun the headlines a while ago when Guha addressed them in his letter. Dravid also wrote to the COA explaining his position and elaborating upon the background. He also asked the BCCI to bring more clarity in this clause so that an informed decision making is allowed. He also expressed his disappointment in being accused of twisting the rules in his favour.

The COA is working on keeping the national and IPL teams separate to avoid the coach or the mentor's decisions regarding a player being influenced by his performance in either of the two teams. The committee is working towards designing a broad and holistic framework to address all the problems regarding the conflict of interest issue.

What's next?

As stated by COA, more clarity will be drawn upon the guidelines in the conflict of interest clause to enable the coaches in understanding their roles and restrictions in a better manner. Since Dravid was backed by COA on this issue, there are minimum chances of sanctions against this former Indian skipper.

Author's take

The case of a national level coach mentoring franchises in domestic league is not restricted to Dravid alone and involves several other coaches in similar roles. It is required of the board to be clear about where the line needs to be drawn for these coaches if they assume dual duties and whether or not these should be allowed.

As far as influence on the decisions is concerned, the chances of it get minimalized with the selection committee being involved. Despite the coach's involvement in the decision, it is possible for them to differentiate between the performance of the players on the international and domestic level. 

They should be alienated from either of their responsibilities iff there are chances of one job not having an influence on the other.