It was the last meeting of the Aminul Islam-led board of directors of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). At such meetings, a farewell tone becomes the main theme.
The last meeting of the current board started at 9:00 pm on Monday and lasted for more than two hours, in which there was a farewell atmosphere, but some decisions were also made.
However, the meeting ended without taking any decision regarding the draft voter list for the upcoming BCB election.
According to the election schedule, the deadline for submitting the names of BCB councillors was supposed to end at 6:00 pm yesterday.
After the board meeting, the draft voter list was scheduled to be published at 7:00 pm. But the board of directors’ meeting started at 9:00 pm, and even then, the names of the councillors were still coming in.
After the deadline had passed, the name of former BCB president Farooq Ahmed also came in as a councillor from Rangers Cricket Academy.
The head of the BCB's media committee, Iftekhar Rahman confirmed this at a press conference after the meeting.
He further said that they have accepted Farooq's councillor form, which arrived at 9:00 pm, with a 'note'. The forms of Farooq and others which arrived late will be given to the election commission with the time of their submission mentioned. The commission will make the final decision regarding these councillors’ forms and then they will publish the draft voter list.
Iftekhar Rahman also said that the commission will decide whether there will be any further changes to the BCB election schedule due to the draft voter list not being published on time.
The election is scheduled to be held on 6 October. However, objections regarding the draft voter list are to be accepted between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm today, Tuesday.
The head of the BCB’s media committee also explained why they could not finish accepting councillor forms after holding the board meeting and publishing a draft voter list on time.
He said that since two writs were filed in court on this matter yesterday, they did not want to sit for a discussion on the issue until they received the final observation from the court.
They properly sat for the meeting after understanding the court's instructions, and that’s why it was delayed.
BCB lawyer Mahin Rahman, who was present at the press conference, said that another hearing of the case will be held at the Chamber Judge's Court on 28 September.
For the past few days, there has been a controversy regarding the nomination of BCB councillors from districts and divisions.
The controversy started after BCB president Aminul Islam sent a letter to all district and divisional sports associations on 18 September.
Although the deadline for submitting the names of councillors was 17 September, the time was extended twice after that letter. First, to 19 September, and then the final deadline was set for 6:00 pm 22 September.
The BCB president signed a letter stating that although there was a compulsion to send names from among the members of the ad hoc committees of the district and divisional sports associations as BCB councillors, it was not properly followed. Therefore, the previous form was cancelled, and the new form sent by the BCB had to be filled out properly and the name of the councillor had to be sent by 6:00 pm on 22 September.
Although the decision to extend the time for the first time was taken at a board meeting, Iftekhar Rahman and Mahin Rahman gave two different statements at the press conference regarding the decision to extend the time for the second time.
Iftekhar Rahman claimed that Aminul Islam extended the deadline for submitting the names of councillors from 19 September to 22 September, by the power of the BCB president. Other directors’ opinions were not taken on this matter.
But BCB’s lawyer Mahin Rahman, who was sitting next to him, said that the time was extended to 22 September by unanimous consent at the meeting on 20 September.
The BCB lawyer also informed at the press conference that the ownership dispute of four clubs–Dhaka Spartans, Blues Cricketers, Dhaka Rangers, and Golden Eagle–has ended.
He said that after the hearings on 15 September and 16 September, the arbitration tribunal gave the ownership of the clubs to those who ran them in the last season.
The BCB has decided to sign a 3-year agreement with IMG as the event management company for the BPL. The next edition of the BPL will be held in December-January. It was also decided at yesterday's meeting.
Iftekhar Rahman said that they have completed some tasks of the BPL. After the election, the new committee will take charge and organise the tournament accordingly.
Besides, the head of the media committee also said that the current board is leaving a total of Tk 13.98 billion (1398 crore), including BCB's fixed deposit, cash, and bank-cash.