A Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) official stated that they have a plan to introduce a professional structure for all umpires, incorporating a promotion and demotion system based on their performance, with the goal of addressing long-standing issues with questionable officiating at the domestic level.

A source informed that this matter is scheduled to be discussed in today’s board meeting at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. 

Directors will also discuss how to solve the present crisis prevailing in the country's cricket fraternity.

First Division cricket is yet to start due to proposed amendments of the board while the payment issue in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) is becoming a headache for the organizers.

“We will present it tomorrow (today) in front of the board. Let’s see how it goes,” a BCB official said on Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity. 

“Firstly, we are working on changing the salary structure. We will review those currently in the structure and include our first-class umpires as well,” the official added.

Another official acknowledged allegations of unethical practices among certain umpires, saying, “There are few umpires sitting in the salary structure who used to do unethical things like giving out 5-7 LBW. People gave them jobs because they wanted to gain something out of them and they did return their favor by doing unethical things. We have tons of complaints against them.”

However, such umpires now receive fewer match assignments, they remain part of the system.

BCB aims to address it by rewarding umpires who have performed well over the last three to four years.

“They don’t get much match time nowadays because of it. But they are in our system. We are aiming to do something about it. We want to reward those who have done good work in the last three/four years. We want to create a system where umpiring will be evaluated and rewarded accordingly,” sources said.

In addition to addressing unethical practices, the board will also consider salary increases and introduce age or tenure limits for umpires.

“Salary is an issue, and we will discuss that. Apart from that, how long an umpire can continue is also important. You can’t go on forever—there should be an age limit,” the official stated.