Bangladesh Sports Minister Aminul Haque plans to set up a second committee to investigate why Bangladesh was not allowed to participate in this year’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. Haque said a second commission would be formed to investigate the boycott call and determine whether the withdrawal from the event represented a failure of sports diplomacy.
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Bangladesh’s decision to snub the T20 World Cup came from Mustafizur Rahman’s unceremonious exit from the IPL, forcing them to request a change of venue from India. The ICC decided to reject Bangladesh’s request and this forced the BCB to continue its stance of boycotting the tournament. Scotland replaced them in the tournament.
Haque said that the matter would be investigated after Eid and such mistake would not be repeated in future.
“We will try to find out why we did not go to the World Cup. We need to understand why our sports diplomacy failed. After Eid, we will form a commission of inquiry on this issue. We need to strengthen our sports diplomacy and ensure that we do not repeat this mistake in the future.”
ICC TO DECIDE ON BCB’S FUTURE?
On March 11, the sports ministry decided to set up a commission of inquiry to look into allegations of irregularities, abuse and manipulation of power during last year’s BCB elections. This caused the board to react strongly, saying that the move to form the committee was an intervention by the government. Haque said that once the committee submits its report within 15 working days, it will take up the matter with the ICC.
“We are all aware of the direct interference of our previous government in last year’s BCB elections,” Haque said. “I have spoken about this on many occasions. After the allegations from the Dhaka clubs and districts, we formed a committee of inquiry. I will read their report, but my next step will come after I speak to the ICC.”
There have been strong allegations that the election was rigged by former captain Tamim Iqbal and a large group of Dhaka club officials. Allegations were also made against BCB president Aminul Islam before the election. Weeks before the election, Aminul wrote to the Ministry of Sports urging it to replace councilors from selected districts. Tamim also alleged that the BCB revised the nomination deadline on two separate occasions.
Haque said investigators will examine the process by which county administrators changed their nominations before the election.
“The inquiry committee will talk to the BCB election commissioners, the current board chairman, BCB directors and the CEO. They will also liaise with the district administrators who nominated the BCB councillors,” Haque said. “There are allegations that many of these district administrators sent the name of a new councilor after they had already appointed one, after receiving the letter (from Aminul). I believe these matters must be investigated neutrally.”
Bangladesh recently beat Pakistan in a three-match ODI series.
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Published on:
18 March 2026 10:52 IST
