The newly appointed Sports and Youth Adviser of the interim government Asif Mahmud Sajeeb Bhuiyan expressed his reluctance to interfere with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), emphasizing that it is an autonomous organization.
He suggested appointing a temporary president for the organization in accordance with ICC regulations.
A number of BCB officials including Mahbub Anam, Khaled Mahmud Sujan, Iftekhar Ahmed Mithu, Akram Khan, Jalal Yunus, Sajjadul Alam Bobby, Kazi Enam and Chief Executive Officer Nizam Uddin Chowdhury Sujan met with Bhuiyan at the Secretariat on Sunday.
The adviser reiterated that as an autonomous body, the BCB should not be subject to political interference. The current BCB president Nazmul Hasan Papon has a term until September 2025, but he is not presently in the country, which has led to stagnation in BCB activities.
"BCB is an organization under the ICC. We cannot make decisions on this matter. We have suggested that the BCB directors explore how to resolve the issue within the ICC's legal framework. They will report back to us later on whether someone can be appointed for the interim period," Bhuiyan explained.
Bhuiyan clarified that the government can only offer advice to the BCB and stated, "Regarding the BCB, as it is an autonomous body, we cannot make decisions for them. I can take advice from the BCB and I can give them advice."
Papon has not been seen in the country since the fall of the Awami League government. It is heard that he is currently staying abroad. In light of this, Bhuiyan remarked, "The BCB president is absent. For a federation to function effectively, all its key positions must be filled. The president's absence is significant, but since BCB is a federation under the ICC, we cannot intervene directly. We have advised the BCB directors to see how this matter can be resolved within the ICC's legal framework."
"They will report back to us later on whether someone can be appointed for the interim period. We will continue the process in this regard. We discussed three processes today but I can't allocate more time now as there is a swearing-in ceremony for the Chief Justice. We will discuss this in more detail later and then make a decision. Today, our discussion mainly focused on the Women's T20 World Cup," Bhuiyan concluded.
