Mohammad Azharuddin suspended by HCA Apex Council

The Hyderabad Cricket Association‘s (HCA) apex council has “suspended” its president and former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin, for alleged constitutional violations and conflicts of interest. However, because only the general body of a state unit, not the apex council, has the authority to suspend a serving president the legitimacy of the suspension may be questioned.

The HCA Apex Council had been at loggerheads with the former captain and during a recent BCCI Special General Meeting (SGM) wanted Shivlal Yadav as their representative but BCCI intervened, allowing Azharuddin to attend the meeting.

“After considering the complaints made by the members against you (Azharuddin), it was decided at the Apex Council meeting on the 10th of this month to issue a show-cause notice on the ground that you have acted in violation of the rules.”

“The Apex Council is suspending you and your membership of HCA is being terminated until completion of the inquiry on these complaints,” stated the HCA suspension notice.

The former India captain was also charged with “misconduct” and numerous acts of “omission and commission” by the Apex Council.

Azharuddin had never disclosed that he owns a T10 team in Dubai, which is a breach of the BCCI’s constitution, which prohibits any office-bearer from owning any cricketing body unregistered by BCCI.

“The complaint discloses that you are a mentor of a private cricket club in Dubai by name Northern Warriors which participates in a T10 cricket tournament which is unrecognized by the BCCI. The fact of you being a mentor has not been communicated to the HCA at any time.”

“It is also apparent that you have not communicated the same to the BCCI. Therefore you being a mentor of an unrecognized tournament comes under the ambit of conflict of interest as envisaged under Rule 38 (1) (iii) of the Memorandum of Association and Rules and Regulations 2018 of HCA,” added in the HCA notice.

Azharuddin claims the decision by the Apex Council as a vendetta against him

On his side, Azharuddin issued a press release, describing it as “belligerent” behavior with no regard for the rule of law. Azharuddin claimed the action as a bashing vendetta against him and vowed to fight back. He accuses certain board members of fabricating a “false narrative” against him, including K John Manoj, a well-known coach, and other members of the so-called “apex council”.

“Today, the institution of cricket administration itself is under threat by these false narratives being published in the media. Please verify the truthfulness of the information, hear the other side, then take a rational view in line with the HCA constitution before you publish something because the society believes what you write,” said Azharuddin.

Azharuddin slammed the other four members R Vijayanand, Naresh Sharma, Surender Agarwal, and Anuradha saying that their scam would be exposed and are coming after him out of lurking fear.

“All their efforts have gone in vain. Their intention to scuttle the appointment of the Ombudsman might be because of the lurking fear that their multiple clubs acquired through manipulation and fraud will be exposed and they may lose their valuable property – the cash cow that sucks the blood of cricketers from a 14-year-old boy to a 23-year-old youngster aspiring to realize their dreams,” added Azharuddin.

Also Read: USA Cricket eyes full membership in ICC by 2030