The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a plea by the BCCI to alter its constitution after two weeks, thus enabling president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah to continue in the top two posts in the board instead of quitting to serve their mandatory cooling-off periods. The Bench was led by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde and L Nageswara Rao. Ganguly and Shah were elected unopposed as office-bearers last October. Shah's tenure ended in May, while Ganguly's term ended on July 27. As per the present BCCI constitution, Shah and Ganguly is supposed to quit. However, at the BCCI’s 88th Annual General Meeting (SGM) in December last year, the members unanimously agreed that Ganguly and his team should serve a full six years at the BCCI. As per BCCI’s constitution, any extension of the office-bearers’ tenure must be approved by the SC.
SAI extends contract of 32 foreign coaches
The Sports Authority of India (SAI) extended the contract of 32 foreign coaches in 11 disciplines till 2021 September to ensure continuity in the training of athletes till Tokyo Olympics. Top coaches among the 32 included Santiago Nieva and Raffaele Bergamasco in boxing, Graham Reid (men’s hockey) and Pavel Smirnov (shooting) among others. The contracts of many of these coaches were to end in September this year. National football coach Igor Stimac’s contract was also extended. He was appointed in May last year for a two-year tenure.
China’s state TV demotes EPL amid spat with Britain
China’s state television broadcaster is relegating English Premier League football matches from its main sports channel to one that attracts fewer viewers, a sign the lucrative world of professional soccer is being ensnared in the fraught relations between Beijing and the UK. CCTV, which has the rights to broadcast Premier League matches in China, didn’t air a match between Liverpool and Chelsea on its main sports channel, CCTV-5, as planned, said a person familiar with the decision. The match was shifted to CCTV-5+, a channel regarded as broadcaster’s secondary sports offering.
Anand goes down to Svidler
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand went down 1.5-2.5 to Russia’s Peter Svidler in the opening round of the $150,000 Legends of Chess tournament. The Indian, making his maiden appearance on the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour, drew the first three games of the best-of-four contest before losing the final game. World No.1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway dominated in a 3-1 victory over Anish Giri (the Netherlands). All the round-robin games are best-of-four game contests. The winner of this event will qualify for the $300,000 Grand Final scheduled from August 9.
