The Anti-Corruption Commission conducted an enforcement operation of the Bangladesh Cricket Board Tuesday in relation to various allegations of irregularities and corruption over the past years.
A special three-member ACC team conducted the operation of the BCB headquarters at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.
Speaking in a press briefing following the raid, ACC official Mahmudul Hasan highlighted that the ACC has received several complaints of irregularities in terms of local cricket tournaments and financial corruption.
“We did the enforcement operation today [Tuesday] following ACC's order. The main issue of the complaint was corruption in the selection process of various domestic cricket leagues under the BCB. This operation has also been based on allegations of illegal transactions and various other irregularities,” said Mahmudul to the media at SBNS.
“ACC had specific complaints, particularly regarding the 2023 team selection for the Third Division qualifying round. In previous years, the application fee was set at Tk5 lakhs and only two or three teams would apply from which one or two teams would get selected.
“This time [year], when the fee has been reduced to Tk1 lakh, 60 teams applied. This seems irregular to the ACC and there might be case of the previous board favouring some particular teams to achieve advantage. We have collected the documents and will now verify and investigate these matters.”
While conducting the operation, the ACC team also brought to light irregularity and possible case of corruption with regards to ticket sales of the Bangladesh Premier League between season 3 till season 10.
The ACC officials also pointed to financial irregularity regarding a concert organised by BCB to mark the birth centenary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
“There was also a matter related to ticket sales as well in relation to the BPL Twenty20. From the 3rd to the 10th season of the BPL, BCB had revenue from ticket sales of about Tk15 crores. But in the 11th season [held this year], BCB sold tickets themselves and the income stood at around Tk13 crores. We have collected the required documents to investigate the vast difference and requested the concerned department of the BCB to help us with more details,” Mahmudul said.
“In terms of the concert held to mark Mujib 100, we have reports that there was a total expenditure of only Tk7 crores but on papers it has been shown Tk25 crores.”
