Rahman, who served as the head of corporate affairs of British American Tobacco, won the two-way battle against Mainul Haq in a chaotic executive committee meeting that ended without any decision over the formation of the important standing committees at a local hotel yesterday.

Rahman, with the background of a sports journalist, will succeed Zimbabwean Macky Dudhia, who held the hot seat of the board till October 2005.

Apart from the appointment of Rahman, the second EC meeting inside a week failed to make any headway over the formation of standing committees, an issue the board had promised to solve in the meeting.

The meeting turned into a total chaos during the break after two EC members from districts led verbal assault against BCB general secretary Mahbubul Anam, who did not return when the meeting resumed after the break citing family commitments.

Other guests at the posh hotel in Gulshan were taken aback no sooner Mohiuddin Bulbul, a councillor from Feni, and Mahmud Jamal of Rajshahi stormed out of the meeting only to vent their anger against the BCB high-ups with their vocal cord in full fury.

The ugly episode also prompted joint-secretary Reazuddin Al Mamun to quit the meeting but he stayed back following request from vice-president Shah Nurul Kabir Shaheen, who chaired the meeting in the absence of board president Ali Asghar.

It was learnt that the meeting turned hot after the seven-member scrutiny committee led by Mahbub proposed a draft list of different standing committees for the approval of the house. The protest sparked from the strong representatives of Golam Rasul Molla-led District Forum. It was however, eventually solved when the meeting approved the inclusion of Shaheen and the controversial Molla in the scrutiny committee. The committee was supposed to sit again last night to finalise a fresh list of standing committees.

"Appointment of Mahmudur Rahman as the CEO was the only outcome in the meeting while other issues were yet to be decided. The nine-member committee will meet tonight to discuss on the standing committees but I can't say when it would be finalised," said Mamun adding that the next meeting will take place sometimes in March.

The meeting also saw vice-president Golam Dastagir Chowdhury pressing for a 'resolution of condemnation' in protest against what he claimed ignoring Dhaka as a venue for the home series against Sri Lanka later this month. Dastagir walked out after the resolution was not adopted in the meeting.

"It's a shame that the National Sports Council (NSC) can make their 24-tier tower on time but failed to complete the renovation works of two stadiums in Dhaka. It is only because the authority is corrupt. For the first time Dhaka people are going to miss international matches," said Dastagir.

"I believe that the board is also to be blamed for not pressing hard," he added.