The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Chief Executive Manu Sawhney has been sent on ‘leave’ after his conduct got here beneath the scanner throughout an inner investigation by audit agency PricewaterhouseCoopers and may resign before his term ends. It is known that Sawhney, who changed Dave Richardson after the ICC World Cup in 2019 for a tenure until 2022, hasn’t additionally been on greatest of phrases with some of the influential cricket boards with regards numerous coverage selections.
He has come beneath scrutiny for his allegedly ‘abrasive behaviour’ with colleagues. “There have been testimonies from multiple ICC staff about his ‘abrasive behaviour’ which hasn’t been great for the morale of a very efficient group of employees,” a senior official near the ICC Board informed PTI on circumstances of anonymity.
The 56-year-old hasn’t been attending workplace for a while and was requested to go on depart on Tuesday (March 9).
“The Board of Directors are trying to find a compromise formula where Sawhney leaves the post with dignity by tendering his resignation,” the supply stated.
He has been beneath stress because the election course of for the brand new chairman was set in movement final yr, which ended with Greg Barclay taking the place in November. It is alleged that Sawhney’s ‘authoritarian style of functioning’ is much faraway from the inclusive method taken by Richardson and has not gone down properly with the workers.
Also, just a few cricket boards appear sad with him for backing interim chairman Imran Khawaja in the course of the elections final yr. “He hasn’t exactly been a favourite of a lot of cricket boards during the past couple of years. Firstly, a lot of people didn’t like his passive involvement when Greg Barclay of New Zealand and Imran Khwaja of Singapore were in contention to replace Shashank Manohar,” a senior BCCI supply aware of developments within the ICC informed PTI on circumstances of anonymity.
The second motive why some of the larger boards are upset is his backing to the ICC’s current determination of asking boards to bid and pay a charge for internet hosting occasions in the course of the subsequent cycle.
It is known that BCCI, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Australia are utterly towards the thought and have made their displeasure clear on the numerous board conferences.
Another motive is a proposal backed by him to have not less than one ICC flagship occasion yearly in the course of the subsequent eight-year cycle from 2023-2031, which hasn’t additionally obtained the vote of the ‘Big Three’.
In case Sawhney chooses to not resign, it might result in a long-drawn removing process by omnipotent Board of Directors. “Manu additionally has help inside the board which is now break up into two factions of 9 and eight members on every sides. To take away Manu, one would want 12 out of the 17 votes, which is 2 third of the Board of Directors since he got here with approval of majority of the board.
“It will be interesting if the faction comprising ‘Big Three’ can get 12 out of the 17 votes required to remove him,” the supply stated.
Sawhney is the previous CEO of Singapore Sports Hub and likewise served as Managing Director of ESPN Star Sports, an organization he labored with for 17 years. He can also be a non-executive director and member of the Audit Committee of Manchester United Ltd.
