BCB president Faruque Ahmed likely to ‘resign’

Will Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Faruque Ahmed resign? The recent developments are indicating towards that. However, there are questions as to whether he is resigning voluntarily or not.

Reliable sources say the BCB president had a meeting with youth and sports adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain on Wednesday. In the meeting, the adviser gave him a message that the government wants to bring a change to the top post of the BCB.

However, the current BCB boss was not provided with any explanation. Asked about this over the phone, the BCB president admitted that he met the youth and sports adviser. But he did not disclose the agenda of the meeting.

Following the political changeover on 5 August, two BCB directors nominated by the National Sports Council (NSC) – Jalal Yunus and Ahmed Sazzadul Alam – who were also in Nazmul Hassan’s board, were removed from their post.

The NSC replaced them with former national team captain and former chief selector Faruque Ahmed and cricket coach and analyst Nazmul Abedin. Later, Faruque Ahmed was elected the BCB president through direct votes of the BCB directors. Before that, former president Nazmul Hassan resigned from his post.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is always very strict against any intervention into the cricket board. So the government does not have the jurisdiction to bring any change in the BCB board of directors. The BCB president and other members of the board of directors have to come through an election.

The NSC could replace Faruque as a board director as he was a NSC-nominated board director. But now he is an elected president. So the question remains as to whether the government can remove him unless he resigns.

Any such decision can put Bangladesh cricket in crisis. The ICC imposed a ban on Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka for government interference in the board.

However, it would not be the case for Bangladesh if Faruque Ahmed resigns. A source said the BCB president sought some time to think about it. If he decides to resign, he will do it very soon.

There have been rumours over the past few days that former Bangladesh captain Aminul Islam Bulbul could take over as the BCB president for three months. Aminul Islam Bulbul is currently serving at the ICC. His contract ends next month.

There are also talks that the government is going to form an interim committee headed by Aminul Islam to hold an election in October next year. However, there is no such option as per the constitution of the BCB.

There are also rumours that Aminul Islam Bulbul could be appointed the chief executive officer of the BCB. However, he demanded twice the amount the current CEO gets, sources say.

This correspondent tried to reach him over the phone to confirm the matter, but he was not available.

However, sources confirmed that he was not present in the meeting between the sports adviser and the BCB president.