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Published : 30 May 2025, 12:22 AM
Bangladesh Cricket Board President Faruque Ahmed has alleged eight directors of “corruption” after they filed a formal no-confidence letter to the youth ministry, seeking his immediate removal as board chief.
On Thursday, Faruque claimed that the BCB constitution contains no provision for a vote of no-confidence against the president, dismissing the allegations as “fabricated and baseless”.
He claimed that the board directors are imposing on him what they have been doing.
In the letter, the directors accused Faruque of “being an autocratic leader, routine constitutional violations, financial mismanagement, and having links to controversial individuals”.
The allegations levied by the directors include that Faruque made key decisions unilaterally, most notably the recent sacking of former head coach Chandika Hathurusingha.
They claim this action violates Clause 14(b) of the BCB constitution, which mandates board approval for such decisions.
The directors have also alleged that Faruque has effectively “seized control” of the board, sidelining collective decision-making and creating a climate of fear, favouritism, and undue interference in both national team affairs and domestic cricket.
Faruque, however, said he was not worried about the no-confidence letter.
Following the fall of the Awami League government, Faruque was appointed a director of the board by nomination from the National Sports Council and later elected president of the board.
Nazmul Abedeen also became a board director at that time to join the others in the position.
“I saw the letter. I laughed very hard at reading it. They have now imposed on me what they have done. They have copied and pasted all the misdeeds they have done in the last three, five, eight, ten years and just put my name on it,” he said.
“It is all their work, and they put my name on it. All the complaints they have made apply to them.”
"The letter is fabricated, all the allegations are baseless. If I, one person, had done so much in nine months, I would have become a superhuman! [Those who signed the letter] are the chairman of the umpires' committee, finance, and logistics. Everyone is involved in [corruption].”
After the last Bangladesh Premier League, Faruque had said the total income from ticket sales that season was Tk 131.3 million, whereas the total income from the previous 10 seasons combined was Tk 150 million.
Faruque claimed that his success in stopping corruption in ticket sales and other areas sparked the conspiracy against him.
“I have brought transparency in the sale of BPL tickets this time. I have exposed the corruption of Tk 1 billion to those who were in charge of the previous boards. A director wanted it to be the same as the previous system. But I did not let that happen. Everyone from top to bottom got their share of that Tk 1 billion.”
“The ACC [Anti-Corruption Commission] has come in here because they have seen many irregularities. They think I brought the ACC in. That is why they are after me.
“In the third division qualifying, they have pushed the teams away by charging an entry fee of Tk 500,000, allowing their clubs to increase their votes. This time, 60 teams played there, everything went well. They did not like this.”
He claimed that he has never been involved in dishonesty in his long career as a player, selector and now administrator in cricket.
“In the 42 years I have been involved in cricket, not a single person can say that Faruque Ahmed is dishonest. It takes time to earn people's trust. Those who are ruining it for me will definitely get an answer. Even my enemies cannot say that I am dishonest.”
On Wednesday, in a meeting with Faruque, the youth advisor told him that he wanted a change in the responsibilities of the president, prompting Faruque to ask for a few days to think.
And he has decided that he will not resign as president, though he claims that he is not greedy for the post. Yet, he is not willing to resign with these allegations against him.
