Former Bangladesh cricketer and match referee Raqibul Hassan finds himself in hot water after his controversial and degrading comments towards Bangladesh Cricket Board dignitaries and Bangladesh Premier League franchise owners.
A controversy had sparked during the toss of the BPL Eliminator between Barisal Bulls and Dhaka Dynamites on December 12 in Mirpur where Raqibul, the match referee, alleged to have flipped the coin after it had landed on the ground, declared Dhaka as the winner of the toss. Raqibul criticised the local TV channel and threatened the reporter, who covered the story, with some poor choice of words.
“Were you there with the camera? You saw it on the broadcaster’s camera and made a comment on the match referee, who is the God of the match. (Match referee decides) protocol and who will do what, a match referee can send the Prime Minister out of the stadium,” Raqibul told a TV journalist. “I say right or wrong.....Right is whatever a match referee says.”
The 63-year-old made no efforts to stop threatening the reporter and further tarnished the image of the cricket board’s former and current presidents.
“All this [Nazmul Hassan] Papon and [AHM Mustafa] Kamal, we have to pay extortion money to them as well. My hometown is Gopalganj, I am stubborn, I don’t have money problems, I have a strong family.
“This [MA Awal Chowdhury] Bulu, when he came to cricket, he was involved in a rape case in America, he was in jail for rape case, he can never fly back to America, he was almost killed there.”
Bulu, a board director and BCB women’s wing chairman, had no explanation to Raqibul’s ill comments. He told Dhaka Tribune, “I don’t know what prompted him to speak such false things. I will speak to the board president, let’s see what decision they take. I will only take a step after a decision from the BCB is given out.”
Raqibul did not even spare Nazmul Karim Tinku, the umpires committee chairman under whom the former works, saying, “Tinku doesn’t even know the C of cricket.”
“Rezwan [Bin Faroque], owner of Barsial Bulls, who is this Rezwan? Rajakar number one.....when the BCCI (Bank of Credit and Commerce International) in Hong Kong collapsed, he fled with suitcase full of dollars, with that money he is doing business here,” Raqibul was seen saying on the footage.
Upon contacting, BCB media committee chairman Jalal Younus told Dhaka Tribune, “It is unfortunate. The umpires’ committee may sit for a meeting (today) and decide the next step.”
The TV footage had gone viral over the social media platforms as people are blaming Raqibul for his activities. This however, was not the first time Raqibul has been at the centre of controversy in Bangladesh cricket. Among the many, in only the second match of BPL 3, Raqibul was the match referee when Sylhet Super Stars submitted their players’ list without any signature of the captain or manager against Chittagong Vikings and later fielded players who were not in the list. Raqibul was not seen anywhere near the 1.5 hour delay of play during which some heated exchanges among the BPL officials, Sylhet owners and Chittagong officials were witnessed.
