NEW DELHI, Aug 23: A top official of the Indian blind cricketers’ association has said it would seek legal recourse if the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) did not grant it affiliation soon.
George Abraham, chairman of the Association for Cricket for the Blind in India (ACBI), said if the BCCI continued to ignore its repeated demands for affiliation, it would move a court of law before the year is out.
“One of the options with us is going to the court,” Abraham told. “BCCI has to recognise us, otherwise it would mean that we the blind people are not Indians,” added Abraham, who is partially blind.
Giving examples of the English, South African and Pakistani cricket bodies, he said that they all help the blind cricketers in some way or the other.” England Cricket Board even has fund earmarked for the blind cricketers’ association,” said Abraham.
ACBI wants affiliation with BCCI so that its cricketers could also avail the facilities meant for other players, and also a pie in the huge sponsorship money that would keep its activities going.—PPI