By Qaiser Mohammad Ali
New Delhi, Jul 7 (IANS): It is possible that a decision on the suspension of the International Cricket Council (ICC) CEO would be taken at an emergency Executive Board meeting on Thursday, but Manu Sawhney has "grave doubts" about ICC choosing fair play to decide his case.
He says the ICC chairman "should not be allowed to use the terms of my employment contract to circumvent basic procedural fairness, transparency, and accountability".
Sawhney suspects that not all ICC Board members have been provided with copies of the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report, the basis of his suspension. He says ICC chairman Greg Barclay had made the accusation against him, and even he (Sawhney) was given the PwC report "seven days after being suspended on March 9, 2021".
The basic allegation against Sawhney is that he did not treat his colleagues in a decent and proper manner. The ICC appointed PwC to conduct a culture review of the organisation, at a cost of $200,000, allege supporters of Sawhney.
In a seemingly last ditch attempt, Sawhney on Wednesday wrote a letter to all the ICC Board members -- and seen by IANS -- requesting them to take the natural course of justice in his case and "uphold the basic principles of the ICC -- accountability, fairness, and integrity". He has requested for appointment of an "independent Ethics Tribunal" to hear his case.
"Clearly, it is inappropriate for the ICC chairman to be responsible for disciplinary action against the ICC CEO in circumstances where the chairman is the person who made the allegations against the CEO," Sawhney wrote in the letter.
"The ICC Code of Ethics (which is expressly referred to in my employment contract) contains a fair and impartial process for dealing with sensitive matters, in the form of an independent Ethics Tribunal, and I request that one to be appointed to hear my case. The chairman should not be allowed to use the terms of my employment contract to circumvent basic procedural fairness, transparency, and accountability," he said.
Sawhney makes it clear that only the ICC Board as a whole, and not its chairman, has the authority to sack him.
"Irrespective of the terms of my employment contract, under paragraph 3.3(A) of the ICC Constitution, only the Board has the authority to terminate my employment agreement," he has pointed out.
"I urge the Board to consider and address each of these issues, as well as my case as a whole, at the next of the ICC Board in order [to] uphold the basic principles of the ICC - accountability, fairness, and integrity."
Sawhney was accused of "targeted acts of bullying against certain [ICC] staff"; of "physical aggression, such as fist banging"; and of having "impacted directly and indirectly on individuals' health and well-being through [his] behaviour". The fourth allegation was that he did not "properly report to the [ICC] Board and have implemented decisions or changes without proper consultation with the Board".
Sawhney was appointed ICC CEO in January 2019.
A source said that the ICC Board was expected to meet virtually for an emergency meeting on Thursday while the annual ICC Board meeting would be held on July 18.
