For the first time in its history, the Indian cricket board - Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has appointed a Chief Executive Officer. BCCI announced a while back that it has appointed Rahul Johri as the CEO. Johri has been in Discovery Networks Asia Pacific for over 15 years where he was its Executive Vice President and General Manager for South Asia before he quit.
The appointment of Johri as CEO is part of the key recommendations made by the three-member Justice RM Lodha Committee as part of its Supreme Court appointed mandate to recommend changes in the functioning of one of the richest sporting bodies in the world.
Johri will join the BCCI on June 1. He will report to the BCCI Secretary. The appointment of Johri as CEO, BCCI came in after the board rigorously scanned candidates with the help pf a professional head-hunting agency.
It should be noted that back in 2005 the then BCCI chief Sharad Pawar had supported a proposal to appoint a CEO for the BCCI. However, since the BCCI rule-book handed all the powers of a chief executive to the Secretary, the proposal wasn’t approved and Ratnakar Shetty was appointed as the chief administrative officer.
Under Johri, Discovery Network in India has gone from strength to strength. From a single channel service back in early 2000, Discovery added more channels like Travel and Living (later renamed TLC), Animal Planet, Discovery HD, Discovery Magazine among others. Localization of content into Indian languages, commissioning more India centric content and the overall transition from analogue-based broadcasting and distribution to digital happened in the long-drawn stint of Johri while he was in the Discovery Network.
Commenting on the appointment, BCCI President, Shashank Manohar, said: “We are pleased to have Rahul with us and are sure his vast experience and knowledge will benefit the board. His vision, guidance and support will contribute towards the successful working of the BCCI.”
BCCI Secretary, Anurag Thakur said, “We welcome Rahul aboard and wish him luck for his new role at BCCI. 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.”
Commenting on his appointment, Rahul Johri, said, “I am honored at the opportunity to serve millions of Indian cricket fans. It will be my utmost endeavor to contribute to the 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 fulfill this tremendous responsibility.”
With over 20 plus years of experience in the media industry, he was last associated with Discovery Networks for 15 years and for the past eight years was leading South Asia operations.
BW Reporters
Ashish Sinha is an experienced business journalist who has covered FMCG, auto, infrastructure, tourism, telecom among several other beats. Ashish has keen interest in the regulatory scenario impacting different sectors. He writes on aviation, railways, post and telegraph, infrastructure, defence, media & entertainment, among a wide variety of other subjects.
