The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is all set to part ways with its first-ever Chief Executive Officer Rahul Johri. The BCCI finally accepted the long-pending resignation of Johri on Thursday as he was asked to leave his position of CEO via an email by the authorities.
“Rahul Johri had officially handed his resignation some time ago but due to COVID-19, the board didn’t take a decision as BCCI wondered how he would find a job in these times. However, the board now has released him with immediate effect,” a senior BCCI official told PTI.
Johri, who joined the BCCI in 2016, had earlier put in his papers after the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) made way for the Sourav Ganguly-led set-up to run the world’s richest cricket board.
He was then asked to continue till the end of his contract, which is due to expire in 2021.
Rahul Johri was little overconfident: BCCI functionary
Meanwhile, a BCCI functionary said that maybe Rahul was a little overconfident after he was freed from sexual harassment charges against him. He added that also a person who was accused of something so serious can’t be appropriate for a role which deals with promoting Women’s Cricket in the country.
“Maybe he was a little overconfident. He was able to survive despite his earlier conduct, and there was an enquiry into allegations of sexual harassment against him. The reports of which were not even made available to the complainants which were found to be very surprising. Yet, he was asked to undergo gender sensitisation.
“We felt that to have a CEO who has undergone this punishment was not appropriate for a role which requires you to give a fillip to women’s cricket. And as CEO he had to meet market leaders. He is certainly not the man who is capable of leading India towards the resumption of cricket. The female cricketers and women working in BCCI must be feeling relieved,” the functionary said.
Johri was accused of being involved in sexual harassment by two women in 2018. However, a five-member probe panel appointed by CoA had then given a clean chit to Johri. Though two members of the committee namely Diana Edulji and Veena Dowda demanded the resignation of Rahul and recommended a ‘gender sensitivity counselling’ for him, the final verdict was passed in Johri’s favour due to the majority decision.
