BCB going backwards?
Premier Division League has no sponsor
Sports Reporter
Is Bangladesh cricket backtracking? On the playing field this might not be the case, but the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) as the governing body of the country's most demanding sports is certainly showing signs of cracking off the field.Two months ago BCB president Ali Asghar came under scrutiny following media reports that he had struck a 'secret' deal with Aston Moore, a Malaysia-based public relation agent, for the future sponsorship rights. In the domestic front the National League, country's lone first-class competition, suffered a major financial blow due to the lack of professionalism from Asghar's newly appointed marketing committee chairman Ahmed Iqbal Hasan. And on Saturday it was confirmed that the Premier Division League, a prestigious domestic competition involving Dhaka clubs, was starting on December 12 without even a sponsor. But unfortunately the all-powerful board president was least bothered to even set a discussion with his elected executive committee, let alone clearing the clouds hanging over his own head. Not only that Asghar exercised his supreme authority given in the new constitution while accepting the resignation of his joint-secretary Reazuddin Al Mamun from the executive body. Asghar, a lawmaker of ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party, even threatened to accept any further resignation without hesitation in an interview with a Bengali daily recently. It was learnt that his general secretary Mahbubul Anam made several attempts to convene an extraordinary board meeting, but Asghar decided against it citing his more demanding political and business commitments. Asghar was also least bothered to form the sixteen standing committees within thirteen days from the first Annual General Meeting (AGM), which is a clear violation of the constitution as the first AGM was held on October 21. Besides, his appointment of Ahmed Iqbal as chairman of the Marketing Committee replacing a long-serving Aziz Al Kaiser Titoo, disappointed everybody. "It is frustrating and I must say it is a disaster to start the most excited cricket competition without any sponsor. Marketing Committee chairman informed me only on last Tuesday that he failed to catch a sponsor for the competition," said Khondokar Jamiluddin, chairman of the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM).
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