Bangladesh's sports adviser wants active cricketers to be barred from joining politics

Bangladesh Youth and Sports adviser Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan said on Wednesday (September 4) that he will recommend that active cricketers shall not be allowed to join politics.

The proposed diktat alludes to former captain Mashrafe Mortaza and talismanic all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, both of whom have been involved in active politics during the span of their international career. Asif also sought a fix on endorsements of betting websites by cricketers.

"I don't think they should [play and do politics together]," Asif told Cricbuzz on Wednesday. "Maybe one can join politics after retiring, but while still playing that should not be the case I think because there can be conflict of interest and lack of professionalism. I have already talked about this," he added.

"And it's not only politics. There are various advertisements that go against the law and people. They can do business, but there should be a guideline on what they can and cannot. There are allegations regarding betting business [endorsements] against some Indian cricketers, and maybe a few Bangladeshi as well. So I think there should be a guideline on this, BCB can fix that.

Asif added that his organisation will also recommend that a president cannot run the board for more than two terms as he feels if that is not the case there is a chance that the long-serving head turns into an autocrat.

Former BCB president Nazmul Hasan served as the board president for the first time in 2012 and was later re-elected to the post twice. He didn't have to contest the elections in 2013 and 2017 as his panel stood unopposed. However, Nazmul decided against a panel in 2021 and hence had to go through the rigours of an election.

"The democratic way gets hindered when someone is in power for a long time. You will see all over the world that a prime minister or a president can't come in power for more than two terms, it's a constitutional rule. We as a nation are expected to make such changes in the constitution. We are thinking of it. We can go with such a decision for the federations and board as well," said Asif.

"I have spoken with the directors and the president who are there to review BCB's constitution. They are working on it. We can provide a guideline for all the federations and boards from NSC so that no one can be elected as president for more than two terms.

"Of course, we don't lack qualified people here. In every sport, there are a number of people working honourably without any profit. We can make sure of their participation in the federations then. And the autocratic situation that has risen can be stopped. I heard there's someone who has been the Secretary of a federation for 44 years. If we can make a proper guideline and if they are followed even after this government, I hope something good will happen," he said.

Asif added that BCB councillors from districts and divisions need to ensure they are regularly organising cricket tournaments in their respective areas in order to keep their councillor-ship unlike the past when some of them hardly bothered to organise cricket leagues in their own areas as they were not at any risk of losing their positions. All the divisional and district bodies have now been dissolved by the interim government with administrators now eyeing to form an ad-hoc committee for the time being.

"Right now there are no councillors from any districts or divisions, they have been dissolved. We are planning to make a guideline from NSC [National Sports Council], not only for cricket but also for all sports. And if a councillor isn't active, we are in discussion about what to do. Of course, we will have a performance and progress report for every councillor and whether he stays in his position or not will remain on the performance and progress report," said Asif.

"We will take every action from NSC to make sure accountability is there. People think their position is highly respected without doing any job, there are many districts where regular tournaments are not held, we will of course make sure there is accountability of whoever comes in charge.,

"The reformation of BCB is still in process. Since there are a few ICC rules and regulations and the board too has a constitution, the reformation is being done within that legal framework.

"You've already seen the new president coming in along with a new director, Nazmul Abedin Fahim bhai. How the next changes can be made as soon as possible for the reformation within the legal framework are in process. The new BCB president and NSC are looking after this.

Asif confirmed that all changes to the constitution and the day-to-day operations will not have any political interference in accordance with ICC's regulations.

"There is no guideline regarding any involvement from the government, yes political interference will not be there. You've seen, we have started the reformation without any kind of interference through NSC( National Sports Council) with whatever authority we have. NSC can nominate two directors and that's what we've done. The existing board directors elected the president," he said.

"Since the big decision has been made from within the legal framework and there is no reason the rest will be done otherwise. You know, according to the constitution, if a director is absent for three board meetings his directorship can be cancelled. So everything will move forward according to the constitution. We can't keep those people who are not here because we have to keep the board running," he added.