Yorkshire have appointed Mitesh Velani, who left Saracens as part of the fall-out from their salary cap scandal, as their new chief financial and operations officer.
Saracens, the London-based rugby union club, were fined over £5 million and docked 35 points in 2019 after they were found guilty of breaching the English Premiership's salary cap across three seasons.
Mitesh Velani, who will join Yorkshire in a newly-created role on September 16, spent a decade working for Saracens. He was the club's finance director from 2010 until 2017, before taking over as chief executive - initially in an interim capacity - until 2020. He was replaced as chief executive in January 2020 , initially moving into a consultancy role before leaving the club soon after.
Velani was mentioned repeatedly in the independent disciplinary panel's report detailing the charges against Saracens, and was the principal witness when the club attempted - unsuccessfully - to make the case that the league's salary cap was anti-competitive.
The panel found that Velani's witness statement had "largely been copied verbatim" from one made by his predecessor, Ed Griffiths, in a previous disciplinary case. The panel's report said it was "regrettable" that Velani did not "make clear the extent to which his written statement simply reiterated Mr Griffiths' earlier statement and addressed matters on which he had no first-hand knowledge".
Yorkshire mentioned Velani's experience with Saracens in a club statement announcing his appointment, but did not address the salary cap scandal, instead saying that he had "brought transformation and innovation to the operating of the club during a decade of sustained success both on and off the field".
Velani said it was "an honour" to join Yorkshire. "I am looking forward to using everything I have learned to help support Yorkshire at this exciting time," he said. "Working alongside the Board I am determined to help deliver success at Headingley and produce exceptional results, underpinned by robust commercial foundations and our vision to make Yorkshire Cricket a place for everyone."
Velani's appointment comes at a time when Yorkshire are in transition on and off the field. They are recruiting for a new director of cricket - with Essex's Anthony McGrath considered the favourite for the role - and a new head coach, with Ottis Gibson stepping down at the end of the season.
Colin Graves, Yorkshire chair, will ballot members in November as he seeks to demutualise the club , which would require a 75 percent vote from a minimum 50 percent turnout. "If people don't vote for demutualisation, then unfortunately, Yorkshire's going to fall into these financial problems time and time again," Graves told the Yorkshire Post last week.
Graves said that he has been speaking to IPL franchises and American investors about the prospect of buying stakes in the club, while Yorkshire will soon be gifted a majority stake in Northern Superchargers by the ECB. "They will not even consider investing in Yorkshire as a members' club - that is fact," Graves said.
Yorkshire also announced on Friday that Sanjay Patel, the main architect of the Hundred, will become their interim chief executive when Stephen Vaughan leaves the role next month.
Patel was the ECB's chief commercial officer from 2015 and took charge of the creation of the Hundred from 2018, acting as the tournament's managing director until the end of last summer. He has been a member of Yorkshire's board since February, when Graves returned to the club as chair .
"I am delighted to be joining Yorkshire County Cricket Club," Patel said. "The board have been extremely open with me, sharing their learnings and challenges over the past few years, and importantly their bold and ambitious goals for the future. Together as an organisation, we will do the best we can for the members and supporters aiming to move forward in all areas."
Vaughan, who joined the club in late 2022 , said that he was "very proud" of Yorkshire's achievements during his tenure: "Yorkshire Cricket has faced some significant and well documented challenges that needed to be faced head on, and the club is now in a much better place and ready to continue its journey back to sustainability and success on and off the field.
"It has been a real team effort, and I'd like to thank all of the staff that have worked tirelessly behind the scenes, often in extremely challenging circumstances for their support and dedication."
Velani and Yorkshire have been contacted by ESPNcricinfo for comment.
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