CoA not to take hasty decisions on KXIP's Ness Wadia issue

Though Ness Wadia arrest in Japan for possession of 25gm of banned substance does not affect the Indian Premier League in any way, the CoA will take a call on future course of action after it hears from the franchise.

Ness Wadia was arrested at an airport in Japan’s Hokkaido for possession of 25gm of banned substance and sentenced to two years of imprisonment, the verdict that had been suspended for five years.

The Committee of Administrators (CoA) has decided not to refer the Ness Wadia issue to the Ethics committee but has sought a written explanation from the Kings XI Punjab with versions from his co-owner, following his suspended arrest sentence for possession of cannabis in Japan.

The CoA which met at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) headquarters on Friday — Vinod Rai and Diana Edulji were present, while Ravi Thodge joined via video conferencing — and decided to not take hasty decisions on the Wadia issue.

“The matter concerns the reputation of the franchise. So, the CoA have asked Kings XI Punjab to explain the entire issue along with Wadia’s version,” one of the BCCI officials told  Sportstar .

Though the incident does not affect the league in any way, the CoA will take a call on future course of action after it hears from the franchise.

“The CoA has asked the franchise to respond at the earliest. Once they get back with a reply, the future course of action could be decided,” the official said. Though IPL guidelines say that the teams stand at a risk being suspend if one of the owners bring disrepute to the game.

“But there are gray areas here and we have to understand all the situation first and then decide on the future course of action,” the official said,  making it clear it is not decided whether the issue would be referred to the Ombudsman-Ethics Officer, Justice (retired) DK Jain.

Wadia was arrested at an airport in Japan’s Hokkaido for possession of 25gm of banned substance and sentenced to two years of imprisonment, the verdict that had been suspended for five years.

Among other decisions, the CoA has decided that it, through amicus curiae PS Narsimha, will intimate the Supreme Court that 27 units of BCCI are now fully Lodha compliant and can hold their state unit’s elections.

“Our main objective is to hold the elections. Out of the 36 BCCI units, only nine have not become compliant yet. We are hopeful things will fall in place,” the official said. Based on the situation, the CoA will submit its report to the Supreme Court.