The representatives of 76 clubs under the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM) have issued a stern ultimatum to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) over the proposed constitutional amendments. BCB’s reform committee has prepared the changes with an aim to bring extensive improvements, but these efforts sparked massive outrage among the clubs.
However, the Bangladesh Cricket Board is yet to approve the proposed constitutional amendments by the reform committee, and the club officials have declared that they will wait until January 17 to see whether their demands and concerns are addressed by the board or not.
Dhaka Cricket Clubs issue ultimatum to Bangladesh Cricket Board over proposed constitutional changes
The next day, on January 18, the club officials will meet with the BCB President, Faruque Ahmed, to discuss their concerns. If no resolution comes out, they will withdraw entirely from Dhaka-based club cricket, which could impact the careers and livelihoods of nearly 2,000 cricketers in Bangladesh.
Actually, the Bangladesh Cricket Board has recently formed a five-member committee to reform its constitution. This committee is led by the BCB director Nazmul Abedin, with Saiful Islam, the personal secretary to the National Sports Council chairman, as the member secretary. The other members include Kamruzzaman, the BCB’s legal advisor; Supreme Court Advocate Barrister Shyikh Mahdi; and AKM Azad Hossain.
The BCB’s five-member reform committee, led by Nazmul Abedin, has proposed major changes, including dissolving the CCDM entirely, reducing the number of Category-2 councilors in the BCB General Council, cutting the representation of Dhaka-based clubs from 12 directors to just 4, and shrinking the total number of BCB directors from 25 to 21.
67 out of 76 Dhaka Clubs are against BCB’s reform proposals
These changes raised concerns among the club officials about the diminishing influence of Dhaka-based clubs within the BCB. Meanwhile, representatives from 67 out of the 76 clubs under the CCDM attended a meeting organized by various stakeholders. They demanded the resignation of Nazmul Abedin, accusing him of irregularities in drafting the amendments.
Rafiqul Islam Babu, who is leading the movement under the Dhaka Cricket Club Organizers Association, was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz: “What has been done is an insult to all our clubs; that is number one. This is a settled issue. At times, there may be a committee with a director system, including a president, vice president, and secretary.
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But the number of people, especially the contribution of our clubs to the Dhaka League, cricket development, and player production—from the time of independence until now—has been insulted in this proposed constitution.”
Dhaka Clubs demand the sacking of the BCB Director Nazmul Abedin
The veteran club organizer further mentioned that the number of board directors has been reduced from 12 to 4 and the number of councilors from 76 to 30, and that is “unacceptable.” Babu warned that if BCB does not provide a valid answer to these changes, their clubs will not return to action till their concerns are solved by the board and its committee.
Slamming the BCB Director Nazmul Abedin, Rafiqul Islam Babu stated, “What he has done has put everyone into controversy. If our clubs do not support his decisions, there’s no reason for him to remain on the board. This is a logical demand.”
On the other hand, Lutfur Rahman, a club official in the Dhaka Premier League, has stressed that they will be forced to boycott cricket if their demands are not met within the given deadline. He noted, “We’ve given them three days. If this process halts, our movement will be withdrawn. Until then, we will continue our movement.”