- Rahul Johri, head of Discovery channel, is appointed by BCCI as its CEO, a post suggested by the Lodha Committee report
- BCCI is a top-heavy body, and there are doubts if powerful honorary officials would give Johri the necessary free hand
- Johri has familial BJP connections, but his appointment is likely an attempt to soften a tough, impending SC order
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Ten years ago, the BCCI, then headed by NCP leader Sharad Pawar, commissioned Tata Consultancy Services to furnish a blueprint for its own structural revamp and paid it around Rs 60 lakh. However, most crucial recommendations made by TCS were ignored. Aspirants appeared for interviews for various posts, but only two were filled: chief administrator officer and manager (game development). A key proposal to appoint a CEO was dumped.
The BCCI’s appointment of Discovery channel head Rahul Johri as CEO on April 20 is, therefore, a statement of intent that it wishes to transform itself from a cosy club sans any accountability into a professional corporate body. With the Supreme Court sword, in the form of an impending order on the Lodha Committee report, hanging over its head, and with other courts also jumping in on the IPL season, the aim is to revive sagging public perceptions.
The appointment of an ombudsman, the uploading of its constitution on its website, tasking Deloitte to suggest ways to strengthen the board’s governance structure, and commissioning PriceWaterHouse Cooper to streamline its financial dealings, are all part of BCCI’s endeavour to mend its ways. It’s more than a coincidence that Johri’s appointment—finalised by BCCI president Shashank Manohar and secretary Anurag Thakur—comes weeks ahead of the SC’s final order on the implementation of the Lodha panel report.
On paper, Johri, a former Outlook manager, seems like a perfect fit. Having worked for long in television, he has the right credentials, given how central TV rights are in cricket. However, unlike his previous ports of call, BCCI is on a different planet. The word ‘professionalism’ has an accusatorial feel in the world’s wealthiest cricket body. Plus, there are all manner of competing and vested interests at play, in the form of politicians, bureaucrats, business houses, TV companies, not to forget the associations that form BCCI.
Moreover, BCCI is a top-heavy body. Besides a president and five vice-presidents, it has a secretary (Thakur), a joint secretary (Amitabh Choudhary), and three general managers—Ratnakar Shetty (administration), M.V. Sridhar (cricket operations), and Amrit Mathur (communication & coordination). And there is a separate staff for IPL, headed by Shetty, who doubles up as IPL CEO. A chief financial officer is also on the anvil, as decreed by the Lodha panel.
“There’s hardly anything in BCCI that its staff does not take care of in terms of day-to-day working. So, it remains to be seen what precise work the CEO will be required to do,” a former board official tells Outlook. “Will the honorary BCCI officials concede to the professional CEO? Will the CEO be allowed to take independent decisions or overrule decisions taken by them or the working committee?” With every aspect of governance covered, the only justification for the CEO’s appointment seems to be the Lodha Committee report. Or, to soften an imminent SC blow.
Although head-hunting firm Korn Ferry had shortlisted four candidates, it was Manohar and Thakur who chose Johri. He is the son of Bareilly-based Dr Dinesh Johri, a minister in Kalyan Singh’s BJP government in UP in the early ’90s. Little surprise, then, that there are whispers about Johri’s links with the BJP, especially as Thakur, a ruling party MP from Himachal, is said to be calling the shots, with Arun Jaitley playing navigator.
For his part, Dr Johri says his son is quite apolitical. After completing his BSc from Bareilly College, Rahul did an MBA from Rohilkhand University. “I’ve never met Thakur; only heard his name. Moreover, I’m a politician by accident and left it long ago,” Dr Johri told Outlook. “We [parents] are sure he will do a good job with the BCCI, too.”
As Richard Cashman wrote in Players, Patrons and the Crowd, politics sets the pace, cricket follows in its wake. From being a Congress-controlled body during the halcyon days of the grand old party, the BCCI reflected coalition colours during the 2000s. But now, it sports saffron, as evident from political affiliation of officials who rule in state associations like Gujarat (Amit Shah) and Jharkhand (Amitabh Choudhary). The employment of personnel is perhaps a necessary topping.
