MUMBAI: In one of the strangest and most bizarre elections ever seen, the candidate who gets the most votes through electronic voting is not considered the winner. Instead, two more rounds of voting will take place to see if the candidate with the lowest number of votes can retain two-thirds of the total ballot to capture the chair.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has not done anything like any other sports federation in the world – including FIFA – by formulating a one-of-a-kind voting policy for electing a new president, leaving the entire cricket fraternity scratching its head in recent weeks.
New Zealand’s Greg Barclay and Imran Kwaja (according to the ICC, he does not represent any country) are two candidates on the field. The first round of voting took place on Wednesday and Barclay received 10 votes and Kwaja received six votes.
There are 16 votes in total – 12 full members, one female independent member, two co-members and one vote belongs to Kwaja (because she is on the board). Despite getting 10 out of 16 votes, Barclay is not a winner because in order to win the election, a candidate must ‘really lose it’.
Here’s how it works: Kwaja needs two-thirds of the 16 votes (7) to continue as ICC president. Barclays needs 11 of 16 votes to block those seven votes if Kwaja wants to capture the ICC chair.
If Kwajaz does not get at least seven votes and Barclays does not get at least 11 votes – this is what happened after Wednesday’s vote – the election moves to round 2, where a similar policy is used again. If there is no result in round 2, the election moves to round 3 and the same policy is applied again. After Round 3, if there is no end, Kwaja will continue as chairman for a limited time.
“Heads, I will win. Tails, you lose. This is the only way I can compile this election, ”a team member told TOI:“ It is 10-6 between Barclay and Kwaja, but the logic is zero. Imagine someone with the status of Indra Nooyi being a voter in this election ”.
Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo and one of the 100 most powerful women in the world, is the ICC’s independent female director.
“No one knows if he is doing well in this election process, but he voted on Wednesday,” the watchdog said.
No one at the ICC is willing to share which country Kwaja represents in international cricket. A lawyer by profession, the 64-year-old Kwaja was elected co-member representative in 2018 before becoming a director on the ICC board. “Which country did he appoint? A recent media report said Mozambique had nominated him. The ICC has never responded to this question,” the sources said.
If that is true, a representative from Mozambique is running for the ICC presidency.
“It’s like Malta or Suriname nominating a representative to the FIFA president,” the sources said.
As for this achievement, former England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Colin Graves – despite serious concerns – could not run in this election because his home board refused to nominate him.
“But Kwaja could compete because the ICC said it was the rule so Graves needed the appointment, but Kwaja did not do so.
The ICC has not shared any official information on the election process, except for a statement that the deadline for nominations is October 12, six days later.
Kwaja is the interim chairman of the ICC – Shashank Manohar took charge after his departure and is considered “close” to the Nagpur-based lawyer.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has not done anything like any other sports federation in the world – including FIFA – by formulating a one-of-a-kind voting policy for electing a new president, leaving the entire cricket fraternity scratching its head in recent weeks.
New Zealand’s Greg Barclay and Imran Kwaja (according to the ICC, he does not represent any country) are two candidates on the field. The first round of voting took place on Wednesday and Barclay received 10 votes and Kwaja received six votes.
There are 16 votes in total – 12 full members, one female independent member, two co-members and one vote belongs to Kwaja (because she is on the board). Despite getting 10 out of 16 votes, Barclay is not a winner because in order to win the election, a candidate must ‘really lose it’.
Here’s how it works: Kwaja needs two-thirds of the 16 votes (7) to continue as ICC president. Barclays needs 11 of 16 votes to block those seven votes if Kwaja wants to capture the ICC chair.
If Kwajaz does not get at least seven votes and Barclays does not get at least 11 votes – this is what happened after Wednesday’s vote – the election moves to round 2, where a similar policy is used again. If there is no result in round 2, the election moves to round 3 and the same policy is applied again. After Round 3, if there is no end, Kwaja will continue as chairman for a limited time.
“Heads, I will win. Tails, you lose. This is the only way I can compile this election, ”a team member told TOI:“ It is 10-6 between Barclay and Kwaja, but the logic is zero. Imagine someone with the status of Indra Nooyi being a voter in this election ”.
Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo and one of the 100 most powerful women in the world, is the ICC’s independent female director.
“No one knows if he is doing well in this election process, but he voted on Wednesday,” the watchdog said.
No one at the ICC is willing to share which country Kwaja represents in international cricket. A lawyer by profession, the 64-year-old Kwaja was elected co-member representative in 2018 before becoming a director on the ICC board. “Which country did he appoint? A recent media report said Mozambique had nominated him. The ICC has never responded to this question,” the sources said.
If that is true, a representative from Mozambique is running for the ICC presidency.
“It’s like Malta or Suriname nominating a representative to the FIFA president,” the sources said.
As for this achievement, former England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Colin Graves – despite serious concerns – could not run in this election because his home board refused to nominate him.
“But Kwaja could compete because the ICC said it was the rule so Graves needed the appointment, but Kwaja did not do so.
The ICC has not shared any official information on the election process, except for a statement that the deadline for nominations is October 12, six days later.
Kwaja is the interim chairman of the ICC – Shashank Manohar took charge after his departure and is considered “close” to the Nagpur-based lawyer.
