KATHMANDU, Aug 14: An independent panel formed to help resolve the current uncertainties surrounding Nepal’s cricket body, Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), has completed its first round of meeting on Monday.
The panel has suggested the suspended elected body of CAN to withdraw its pending court case against the Nepal Sports Council (NSC). It has also suggested the NSC to dissolve the ad-hoc cricket governing committee that led to government interference into the country’s cricket and subsequent suspension of CAN from the International Cricket Council (ICC).
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The ICC had suspended the membership of the CAN in 2016. The NSC had formed an ad-hoc committee against the elected-body of the CAN prior to that. The then president of the elected CAN Chatur Bahadur Chand and members had filed a court case against the NSC move.
The NSC has kept stating that the ad-hoc committee was formed only for a time being and its significance has already been over.
The panel also asked the elected body to keep proper accounts of all its financial transactions since 2014.
“The most important development now is that everything has moved ahead on a positive note,” said LB Chhetri, a member of the independent panel. “If we can all move along the same direction, it is possible that CAN may get reinstated by January, 2019.”
The panel had issued a 15-day notice on July 26 asking all members of CAN to submit reports about holding independent elections based on the association’s amended statute. A total of 36 members have submitted their reports till date. The panel has assigned a legal advisor to study the reports and give feedback within 15 days, according to Chhetri.
The 5-member independent panel consists of former captain of the Nepal national cricket team Lekh Bahadur Chhetri; Kathmandu District Cricket Association’s (KDCA) representative Thakur Pratap Thapa; and the ICC representatives: Muhammad Ali Aslam (Head of Internal Audit), Ammar Shaikh (Senior Manager– Strategic Projects) and Niteesha Kothari (Finance & Operations Officer – Asia).
