Bangladesh Youth and Sports adviser Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan stated on Wednesday (September 4) that he will recommend that active cricketers should not be allowed to join politics as well. The proposed diktat alludes to former Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza and veteran all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, as both of them have been involved in active politics during their international career. Asif also asked for 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,” he again shared.
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Meanwhile, former BCB president Nazmul Hasan served as the board president for the first time in 2012 and then he was later re-elected to the post twice. It is also noteworthy that he didn’t have to contest the elections in 2013 and 2017 as his panel stood unopposed as well. However, Nazmul decided against a panel in 2021 and hence had to go through the election as well.
“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.
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Asif Mahmud also confirmed that all changes to the constitution and the day-to-day operations will not have any political interference following ICC’s regulations as well.
“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. 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 concluded.
