Country’s top clubs boycott league, calling BCB elections illegal

Sports Desk

The country’s top 40 clubs have announced a boycott of the league, calling the highly controversial election of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) illegal. They are demanding the illegal board be abolished and re-elections held.

Aminul Islam Bulbul was re-elected as the president of the BCB in the elections held on Monday without any opposition. The voting took place at midnight in a hotel two days before the elections. Before that, most of the candidates withdrew their nominations. However, to get 100% assurance, Bulbul resorted to widespread irregularities in collusion with sports advisor Asif Mahmud.

Two days after the vote, the Dhaka Cricket Club organizer called for a boycott of domestic cricket at a press conference held at a hotel in the capital today.

Former captain Tamim Iqbal, Mohammedan Sporting Club official Masuduzzaman and sports organizer Abdullah Al Fuad Redwan were present at the press conference. Representatives of top clubs like Abahani Limited and Legends of Rupganj were also present, along with Mohammedan.

Mohammedan official Masuduzzaman announced the league boycott and said, “There are all the second division cricket leagues, from the second division cricket league to the first division, the Premier Division, all the clubs that we thought we would participate in. From today, we want to say that the beauty of cricket has lost. If you want it to continue like this, we will not play cricket. And the same goes for the district.”

He said, “There are district representatives here, there is representative Redwan Bhai. We will boycott cricket from the district level as well. And we will remain united in any way. If any of you who are club representatives are threatened or trapped in a conspiracy, we will remain united. Cricket will be closed for the time being. We are making an announcement.”

Masuduzzaman said they do not consider BCB President Aminul Islam Bulbul as the legitimate president, “There is nothing to discuss. We are not accepting the election. He (Bulbul) has become illegitimate. In our opinion, he is illegitimate.”