Rahul Dravid once again faces the 'conflict of interest' bullet (BCCL image)

NEW DELHI/DHARAMSALA: Conflict of interest has returned to haunt Rahul Dravid . This time it’s over his involvement in the newly-built Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sport Excellence in Bengaluru. It is learnt that Dravid has written to the Indian cricket board ( BCCI ), citing clarification since he has no ownership in the centre.

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“Dravid has voluntarily disclosed and clarified that the centre would bear his name, but he has no ownership interest in the company or in any of the academies run by it,” a top BCCI official told TOI.

The matter was brought to the notice of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators ( CoA ). Dravid will have to wait a little longer to know if he is clear of conflict of interest since the board is yet to appoint an ombudsman. Dravid is currently a co-chairman in the advisory board of the centre in question.

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“There should be no problem for Dravid in this but it’s always better to get a legal clarification before coming to any conclusion. Once an ombudsman is appointed, the matter will be referred to him,” the official said.

The concerned centre has academies in six disciplines - badminton, cricket, tennis, squash, football and swimming - along with a centre of sports sciences which is an initiative of Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra .

Dravid had written to the board before leaving for New Zealand with the India U-19 team for the World Cup. The former India captain has been the coach of the India U-19 and A teams since July 2015. Dravid had to relinquish his job as a coach in the IPL last year since it was deemed that he would be in conflict of interest if he continued to be so.

BCCI office-bearers unhappy with fee-structure process

With the tension between the BCCI office-bearers and CoA growing, it has emerged that board’s acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary has refused to sign the central contracts offered to the players. “What I can tell you for sure is that I was not part of process. I can also tell you that nobody from the board was. I also happen to be the convenor of senior selection committee and no meeting was called. I won't sign (on the contracts) if they come to me,” Choudhary said.

It is also learnt that the fee structure was not cleared by the finance committee. “The domestic players could have made more. But with the current structure, including the gross revenue share, they will not see any significant rise in their match fees. The board could have waited another 20 days as the international media rights were to be announced. That too could have been factored in,” a BCCI official said.

Interestingly, the CoA had decided that the acting president CK Khanna and Choudhary would be part of the panel appointing the manager for marketing and sales. Both were not kept in the loop even as the board made an offer to a candidate for the post of general manager.

