Come together to support MCA staff: Former MCA secretary

Former MCA Secretary Vilas Godbole

The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) is known as the richest state unit in the land. However, the association's employees have not been paid for two months and things could get worse for them as the festive season of Diwali draws near. The day-to-day affairs of the MCA have been affected since there is no authorised signatory to make payments after the High Court-appointed Committee of Administrators made an exit last month.

Taking into consideration the plight of the staff members, former MCA Secretary Vilas Godbole, has called upon the affiliated clubs to come together and ensure the upheavals of the staff members are put to an end. "The MCA staff members are working without salary for the last two months. I spoke to Parsee Gymkhana cricket secretary Khodadad Yazdegardi about helping them. He was spontaneous in his response, so my club United Cricketers and Parsee Gymkhana will make a payment to one MCA groundsman to start with. We are requesting other clubs to follow suit and help our association staff in this hour of need," Godbole, 77, the president of United Cricketers, told mid-day yesterday.

Former Bombay University batsman Godbole, who guided the Mumbai University, Mumbai U-22 and U-25 teams as coach in the recent past, added: "Actually, I am a outsider as far as MCA is concerned. I do not represent my club, but as a senior cricketer and administrator, I thought I must take the initiative and motivate people to come together and sort out this problem."

Godbole was not impressed by some administrators who protested when the BCCI decided to award the fourth India v West Indies ODI to the Cricket Club of India after the MCA gave the impression that they would not be in a position to host the match. "You are not bothered about the staff, but you are worried about hosting the ODI and moving court for that purpose. You are spending money for court matters, but not your staff. This is not right," he remarked.'

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