ICC clears air regarding Bangladesh visit

Ever since the two-member International Cricket Council (ICC) delegation arrived in Bangladesh ahead of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) election, there has been a lot of speculation floating in the air regarding the nature of their visit.

The two ICC board representatives - Dr Mohammed Moosajee of Cricket South Africa and Tavengwa Mukuhlani of Zimbabwe Cricket - met the head of the ad-hoc committee, Tamim Iqbal, and influential director Fahim Sinha upon arrival last Monday.

Rumours started circulating from Tuesday as the delegation met four former directors of the Aminul Islam Bulbul-led board at a city hotel.

The former directors - M Najmul Islam, Ahsan Iqbal Chowdhury Zaman, Asif Akbar and Md Hasanuzzaman - were accompanied by their legal counsel, Advocate Mokarramus Shaklan.

Following the meeting, the Bulbul-led committee issued a press release, stating that it had urged the ICC not to recognise any election conducted by or under the authority of the ad-hoc committee on 7 June or at any other time.

“No such election can be considered a legitimate and autonomous BCB election while the ad-hoc committee's legal status remains under challenge before the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and while the ICC's own investigation into alleged governmental interference is ongoing,” the press release stated.

The Bulbul-led committee claimed that the ICC delegation was not in Bangladesh in connection with any election process undertaken by the ad-hoc committee.

It also asserted that the ICC representatives were not serving as election observers. World cricket’s governing body cleared its position regarding the visit on Thursday.

“A two-member delegation appointed by the ICC, comprising ICC Board Directors Dr Mohammed Moosajee and Tavengwa Mukuhlani, recently visited Bangladesh to engage with a range of stakeholders to review developments linked to the BCB,” the ICC said in a statement.

“The ICC wishes to clarify that the delegation will submit its findings and observations to the ICC Board in due course and will not be making any media comment on the matter,” it noted.

“Any media reports, commentary or claims regarding the visit are therefore speculative and do not represent the ICC's position,” it added, suggesting that the claims of Bulbul-led committee are speculative.

Earlier, the National Sports Council (NSC) dissolved the Bulbul-led board on 7 April based on the findings of a five-member probe committee.

The move was taken under Section 21 of the NSC's 2018 policy, which allows action against any sports body under its jurisdiction if irregularities are proven.

On the same day, the NSC appointed former Bangladesh captain Tamim as the chief of an 11-member ad-hoc committee.