State associations hosting franchise-based T20 tournaments may now find themselves in a tricky spot. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has issued a long list of guidelines which the state associations have to follow to host the tournament.
Last year, just before the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) had gone closer to signing outstation players like Yusuf Pathan and Suresh Raina for the tournament.
But the Board had clearly directed the TNCA to not allow any player who is not in the ‘jurisdiction’ of the state association.
The new list of guidelines--which was sent to the Committee of Administrators by the BCCI's operations team - upon its approval, have been sent to all the state associations.
In the list of guidelines - which Sportstar has access to - the BCCI has clearly mentioned that “players registered with the staging association and/or with the clubs/districts within the territorial jurisdiction of the staging association for the sake of playing local matches/tournament, but who represent another state association in the BCCI domestic tournaments are not eligible to participate in the tournament.”
Making it clear that a player can only represent one state association in a season, the BCCI has also brought in new guidelines for the coaching staff.
Ever since its inauguration in 2016, TNPL has had support staff from various states and even abroad, but the new guidelines have made it clear that ‘support staff, match officials must also be from the jurisdiction of the staging association.’
Though it would be interesting to see whether the state associations accept the offer, some of the top BCCI officials have confirmed to Sportstar that such steps had to be taken to eliminate any unauthorised factors.
“The franchisees must have registered office in the jurisdiction of the staging association. That is also another very important factor,” a BCCI official said.
The Board has also asked the associations to check the credentials of the cricketers participating in the tournaments so that the league can maintain its image.
“The state bodies have been asked to be stricter with the fact checks and any doubts must be cleared,” the Board official added.
A window has also been demarcated for these leagues. The advisory also says that the state associations should not be allowed to conduct the tournament “during the IPL and/or 15 days before or after the IPL.
" No tournaments can be conducted from September 15 to February because that would clash with the domestic season."
Each state association, it is learnt, is required to take approval from the BCCI prior to hosting the tournament every year.
Associations which are hosting tournaments for years also need to take fresh permission every year.
To ensure the integrity of the tournaments is well protected, the BCCI Anti-Corruption Unit will nominate and appoint two ACOs for the tournament, and the state body will have to bear all the expenses for that.
The application to host a tournament needs be submitted at least 45 days prior to the start of the tournament, and the application has to be submitted to the secretary by email and also a hard copy needs to be submitted.
With the BCCI coming up with new set of guidelines, it needs to be seen how the state bodies hosting such tournaments, deal with the issues.
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