Tamim alleges 'tremendous amount of interference' from government in BCB elections

An alliance of Bangladesh's district and divisional sports organisers, along with cricketers and club representatives, held a press conference on Sunday alleging government interference in the upcoming Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) elections.

Former national team captain Tamim Iqbal was among those raising concern, claiming that the board's constitution was overlooked in a recent move made by BCB president Aminul Islam Bulbul.

On September 18, Bulbul sent a letter to the Ministry of Youth and Sports, noting that several district and divisional sports associations had not complied with a directive requiring councillors to be nominated from within the ad-hoc committees formed by the National Sports Council (NSC). The letter stated that nomination forms had been resent to the respective associations.

Tamim, who is tipped to contest the BCB elections, said he had sought nothing but transparency in the process.

"A few days ago, I met with the Sports Advisor. At that time, I told him one thing: 'Brother, I don't want anything from you. I want only one thing, and that is a fair election.' I didn't demand or ask for anything more from him," he told reporters at a city hotel in Dhaka on Sunday.

Expressing concern over what he described as external influence, Tamim said: "From what I started seeing after that, or what we are seeing. what is happening in the districts and divisions, even what is happening in the clubs, this is not right. It seems to me that a tremendous amount of interference is happening from various parts of the government."

The former skipper also pointed out that the current process deviates from long-standing BCB practice.

"What we normally know from the BCB constitution is that those who are eligible, those related to sports, the DC can give them councilorship. This has been the case for a number of years, a number of elections. But this time, I suddenly noticed something new: an ad-hoc committee was formed. The rule that it must come from the ad-hoc committee is not mentioned anywhere in our constitution," Tamim said.

At the press conference, Bangladesh Nationlist Party (BNP) leader and Brothers Union councillor Ishraque Hossain warned of tougher action if they sense any conspiracy or bias around the elections. He said they would mobilise protests and direct action to prevent what they see as engineered control of the board.

"There is no obligation in the BCB constitution that the councillors have to come from the ad-hoc committees. If this is how things are carried out, we will blockade the BCB. We won't allow any election engineering so that one particular party can takeover BCB and rule over it in the future. We won't sit back and watch," he said.

Meanwhile, the organisers warned that they would take legal action and stage protests if the councillor list already submitted to the BCB is altered.