At a time when the Cricket world is immersed in engrossing Men’s ICC 2023 World Cup, the Tripura Cricket Association has once again found itself in the spotlight, regrettably not for their exemplary achievements, but for allegations of financial.
Unfortunately, even as TCA was established around 50 years ago, the Apex Body failed to lift the standard of the game in the State as Tripura is yet to consider a strong side even in the domestic cricket circuit – forget about anyone from the State to be selected in the National Team.
Amidst successive failures in national level competition, allegations of corruption have resurfaced within the TCA, with affiliated cricket clubs and sub-divisional cricket associations raising serious concerns about irregularities in the management of funds within the cricketing body.
The allegations concerning the installation of floodlights at the MBB Stadium have been a topic of public discussion. However, this time, a section of the beleaguered TCA officials face an array of new accusations.
During a press conference held on Tuesday, Sebak Bhattacharjee, the convenor of the association, called for a comprehensive investigation by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) following the Tripura High Court’s order.
Bhattacharjee, accompanied by 12 other representatives, revealed that the TCA had awarded a contract for floodlights to a company at an exorbitant cost.
He pointed out that the TCA had allocated a staggering Rs 16 crore for the project, whereas another company would have done the same work for only Rs 1.53 crore.
Furthermore, he raised concerns about discrepancies in earnest money calculations, where only Rs 5 lakh was taken instead of the required Rs 32 lakh. Additionally, ‘security money’ was withdrawn before the stipulated time. An outsider was hired for floodlight maintenance at a monthly cost of Rs 2 lakh.
Bhattacharjee also questioned the excessive expenses incurred during the inauguration of Dharmanagar, with Rs 22 lakh supposedly spent on “sweets” alone, along with Rs 18 lakh for decoration and Rs 9 lakh for a sound system that included only four soundboxes. The total expenditure for the event was reported at Rs 52 lakh, excluding the amount spent on sweets.
Backing up his claims with supporting documents, Bhattacharjee criticized the allocation of Rs 24 lakh to the Belonia cricket association for tournaments that never actually took place.
Moreover, there were allegations of financial irregularities related to women’s cricket organized by a particular company. Bhattacharjee welcomed the High Court’s decision to establish the SIT and urged the relevant authorities to include these and other irregularities in their investigation of the TCA.
Bhattacharjee also urged the TCA and cricket lovers of the State to work for the development of the game in the State, so that Tripura become a cricket force to reckon with. He also pointed out failure of the TCA in nurturing local talents to be groomed properly to get selected in the national team.