Zonal Chairmen want police involved

CHAIRMEN of three zonal cricket councils want an urgent meeting of the TT Cricket Board to discuss the findings of National Gas Company’s (NGC) financial audit on the local cricketing body. They have also called for a copy of the audit to be sent to the police.

The audit – dated March 15, 2017 and done by the NGC’s internal audit department – showed that 24 per cent of NGC’s sponsorship to the TTCB was not spent according to stipulation.

The audit showed that between 2014 and 2016, $2,983,000 was spent without approval and not in accordance with the memorandum of understanding.

According to the audit, the NGC signed a sponsorship MOU with the TTCB for three years on December 18, 2013 for an annual amount of $4.45 million, with a total cost of $13.35 million.

The annual sum was revised downwards in 2016, owing to cost-cutting by the NGC, to $3.56 million, which took the total it actually spent on its cricket sponsorship to $12.46 million.

In their letter to TTCB president Azim Bassarath, chairmen of the North, South and South West Zonal Councils – Winston Sobers (North), Chaitram Ramjitsingh (South) and Ramesh Dharamdeo (South West) – called for an emergency meeting of the TTCB to discuss the audit as well as the appointment of an independent external forensic auditor to investigate the findings.

“It seems to us that given some of the reported findings of this report, an independent forensic audit and/or police investigation may be required into the matters of financial mismanagement which have been reported.”

The three men, all members of the TTCB, urged “caution and restraint” in how all parties proceed at this point,

“As we are all aware, cricket is a sport that is built upon integrity, honesty and sportsmanship. We as the administrators of cricket must ensure that any allegations of impropriety which are in the public domain are dealt with expeditiously and fairly.”

The three cricket administrators also suggested a copy of the audit should be sent to the police for full investigation.

They have given the TTCB’s president 48 hours to respond to their request for the urgent meeting.

Bassarath, when asked to comment on the audit, told Newsday on Monday, “We not making any comment.”

Yesterday, however, the TTCB issued a press release indicating they will be holding a press conference today to “address serious allegations made in a recent newspaper report.”

The financial audit by NGC follows financial struggles that forced the TTCB to make changes to its cricket calendar in 2018. Part of the reason the TTCB had to cut down the number of tournaments was because NGC stopped sponsoring local cricket at the end of 2017. NGC, a longtime sponsor of local cricket, said because of financial constraints the company could not continue its sponsorship.