New Delhi: In line with one of the key recommendations of the Supreme Court-appointed Lodha panel, the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday announced the appointment of Rahul Johri as its first chief executive officer (CEO).
Johri will take charge of his new role starting June 1.
Johri’s last assignment was with the Discovery Network as its Asia Pacific executive vice-president and general manager for South Asia. He has been associated with the Discovery Networks for 15 years, and led its South Asia operations for the past eight years before tendering his resignation from the post in February this year.
In a media release issued today, BCCI said Johri would be reporting to its secretary Anurag Thakur and will be based out of Mumbai.
“I am honoured at the opportunity to serve millions of Indian cricket fans,” Johri was quoted as saying in the release.
BCCI’s move to appoint a CEO is in line with the recommendations of the SC-appointed panel that had also proposed some sweeping changes into the functioning of the cricket administration body.
Among the measures proposed was to separate its governance and management duties, with the CEO taking charge of the management side. It also made recommendations for a clear segregation of operational duties from the governance and policy-makers in the board.
“It will be my utmost endeavor to contribute to Indian cricket. I am thankful to the President and Honorary Secretary of the BCCI for bestowing such faith in me. I look forward to everyone’s support to fulfil this tremendous responsibility,” Johri said.
The BCCI said the creation of the CEO and CFO posts was part of an initiative called 'Project Transformation' aimed at improving governance, and operational and financial processes.
“In the past one year, BCCI has undertaken various initiatives aimed towards transforming the working of BCCI in order to make the functioning more robust. This endeavor is another initiative of the board aimed in the same direction and will mark as one more milestone towards strengthening the professional working of the BCCI,” Anurag Thakur said in the release.
