KATHMANDU, Sept 17: The suspended Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), Independet Panel and National Sports Council (NSC) have agreed to host elections for the association’s central working committee on September 27 and 28. A meeting between the three parties in Kathmandu on Monday decided to that effect.
Elections of the central working committee will be conducted during the annual general meeting and will be overseen by the Panel formed under the provisions of the CAN constitution.
ICC Deputy Chairman, Imran Khwaja met with the Member Secretary of the Nepal National Sports Council (NSC), Ramesh Silwal today in Kathmandu including Panel’s legal advisor Rajeshwor Shrestha as part of the ongoing efforts focused on enabling the reinstatement of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) to ICC membership.
According to NSC member-secretary Silwal, the meeting further discussed on the ways for making the elections free and fair. He also hoped that the ban on CAN would be lifted in the next ICC general meeting which is scheduled to be held next month.
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The ICC is set to hold its general meeting on October 13, where Nepal’s reinstatement will be discussed if all the elections including the central working committee are completed by that time.
Similarly, Khwaja said that the disputes existing in the Nepali cricket are about to be resolved.
“I’m glad to note that the CAN district and provincial elections have been concluded and we are at the final stages of conducting the central elections. I am thankful for the NSC’s support in ensuring that elections are conducted in a free and fair manner devoid of any political interference, which is an important prerequisite for the reinstatement of Nepal’s ICC membership.”
“I am optimistic that upon conclusion of the central elections, the ICC board will be in a position to consider Nepal’s reinstatement at its October meeting in Sydney,” he added.
The reinstatement process of the CAN had hit a roadblock as the NSC on Thursday disapproved the pre-announced dates for the election of the CAN’s central working committee.
On September 11, Rajeshwor Shrestha, lawyer of the five-member Independent Panel formed by the ICC to resolve the CAN issues, had issued a press statement, inviting a Special General Meeting in Kathmandu to be attended by all the elected members of the provincial cricket bodies.
However, the NSC then informed the panel to revert the previously announced dates on September 20 and 21 for the central body elections. According to the NSC’s statute, any general meeting must have a gap of 21 days between the public announcement and the general meeting.
Silwal had stressed on the necessity for the Panel to apply for the dates to be approved by the NSC before approving the elections. The Panel could not hold elections without prior consultations with the NSC.
Elections of all the seven provincial chapters of the suspended cricket body of CAN have been completed with the election of Province 3 held at Hetauda of Makwanpur district last Saturday. Province 3 elected Raju Basnyat as the president of Province 3 chapter of the CAN. Elections of other six provinces were held earlier.
According to a new statute which was proposed by the Panel and approved by the NSC, the ICC will assess the elections and new governing body of the CAN after the completion of central committee elections. Henceforth, the ICC may uplift the suspension on CAN after the October general meeting.
In April 2016, the CAN was suspended by the ICC, on the grounds of government interference in its operations. The suspension does not affect the ability of Nepal’s national teams to participate in the ICC tournament.
The national cricket team is preparing for the tri-series in Singapore, five-team series in Oman and South Asian Games as upcoming assignments this year.
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