Corruption in BPL: One cricketer, three others suspended temporarily
The Bangladesh Premier League governing body has temporarily suspended four individuals — including a player, team officials, a franchise co-owner and an associated person— over allegations of violating various provisions of the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Code during the league’s most recent 12th edition (2025–26 season).
According to a Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) press release issued today, Thursday, they have been given 14 days to respond to the allegations.
The press release said the allegations include alleged betting-related activities, corrupt approaches, failure to comply with demand notices issued under Article 4.3 of the code, concealing or deleting relevant communications and information, and non-cooperation with the investigation conducted by the designated anti-corruption officer.
The accused individuals are Md Lablu Rahman, logistics manager of Chittagong Royals; Md Touhidul Haque, co-owner of Noakhali Express; cricketer Amit Majumder; and Rezwan Kabir Siddiqui, team manager of Sylhet Titans.
In addition, the BCB has permanently banned Saminur Rahman under its “Excluded Person Policy.” He served as chief executive officer of Chittagong Royals in the latest BPL season. The press release said the decision followed an investigation into alleged corrupt activities linked to multiple editions of the BPL, including the 9th, 10th and 11th seasons.
Sources said the investigation into various corruption allegations from the 12th BPL was conducted by Alex Marshall, chief consultant of the BCB Integrity Unit. Earlier, however, an independent investigation committee had submitted a report to the BCB in October last year after probing several match-fixing allegations raised during the 11th BPL.
That investigation committee, formed in February last year when Faruque Ahmed was BCB president, was headed by former Appellate Division judge Mirza Hossain Haider. The committee also included lawyer Khaled H Chowdhury and former cricketer Shakil Kasem.
Based on that report, Alex Marshall is carrying out further investigations into those allegations as well. However, the inquiry has not yet been completed. Speaking at a press conference on the BPL today, interim BCB president Tamim Iqbal said investigations against the remaining accused individuals would continue, but they would be allowed to continue cricket-related activities until further notice.
At today’s press conference, alongside current BPL Governing Council chief Fahim Sinha, Tamim also highlighted several irregularities from the 12th edition. Although such allegations had appeared in the media before, the BCB had not previously given any specific explanation. During the 12th edition, Aminul Islam served as both BCB president and head of the BPL Governing Council, while Iftekhar Rahman was member secretary.
Regarding the irregularities, Tamim said, “Alex Marshall informed us that before the EOI process, concerns had been raised over two individuals on integrity grounds and it was advised that they should not be awarded franchises. But some members of the then governing council allegedly pressured someone into giving one of them a team, while leniency was shown in the case of another. That person stayed behind the scenes and put someone else forward instead.”
He added, “The most astonishing thing I found was that two teams still do not even have signed agreements, yet they already completed a full season!”
Tamim identified the two franchises as Sylhet Titans and Noakhali Express.
Tamim also said the BCB incurred losses of around Tk 140–160 million in the latest BPL season. He pointed to various irregularities and problems involving franchise selection, bank guarantees submitted by franchises, franchise-player contracts and financial transactions. In his view, if these issues cannot be resolved and quality franchises cannot be secured, it would be better not to hold the BPL at all, as at least that would spare Bangladesh cricket from reputational damage. He said responsibility lies not only with franchises but also with relevant officials within the board.
Tamim questioned, “Why are you awarding teams to people against whom there are objections? What is the reason behind this, and who is involved? This is the time to bring these things out. If the BPL is to be cleaned up, every level from top to bottom must be addressed. Because the BCB is suffering in every way from these issues.”
Asked whether the interim board would take effective action against those involved in irregularities or cancel the BPL if reforms were not ensured, Tamim replied, “Absolutely not. I will not make such a decision. I do not have the time in office to make that kind of decision. But revealing these issues is equally important. Everyone has the right to know why the BPL is suffering.”
Tamim expressed hope that whoever takes charge of the board in the future will keep these issues in mind.