Nazmul Hasan’s desire to become the first elected president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board hinges on the will of the National Sports Council after he decided against participating in the October 10 election for a directorship. Nazmul, the incumbent BCB president, has long expressed his desire to retain the post and has thrown his weight behind the ad hoc committee members who all are vying for directorship.
According to the BCB constitution, Nazmul has to be a director first before seeking the office of president. However, his name is surprisingly missing from the panel that Nazmul himself announced at a press conference on Sunday.
The only option left for him now is to become a director through the NSC, which will nominate three directors directly. Nazmul is confident about getting the NSC approval, not only for him but for two other panel members, as he announced the names of a 14-member panel for category-2 against 12 director posts.
‘There can be 15 members on the panel [including the NSC quota], but I have announced 14 names so you can guess the other name,’ Nazmul told the press conference.
The Sammilita Parishad panel consists of Ahmed Sazzadul Alam, Mahbub Anam, Enayet Hossain Siraj, Nazib Ahmed, Shawkat Aziz Russell, Nazmul Karim, Gazi Golam Murtaza Pappa, Ismail Haider, Tanzil Chowdhury, Jalal Yunus, Hanif Bhuiyan, Afzalur Rahman Sinha and Lokman Hossain Bhuiyan.
Among the candidates, Nazib Ahmed, Shawkat Aziz Russell, Nazmul Karim, Hanif Bhuiyan and Tanzil Chowdhury are contesting the BCB election for the first time, while the rest are already members of the BCB’s present ad hoc committee.
During the panel introduction programme, Nazmul promised to bring some reforms to the present BCB constitution, apparently admitting the fact that the present constitution has some flaws.
‘If I become president I will try to frame a constitution that will be accepted by all,’ said Nazmul. ‘I am willing to take advice even from those who are now criticising the constitution so that there is no more confusion left regarding it,’ he added.
Nazmul received strong backing from businessman Salman F Rahman and former BCB general secretary Muzaffar Hossain Paltu, who were also present at the programme held at a city hotel.
Nazmul claimed that he was also overwhelmed by the response of the clubs, who will elect 12 directors from category-2. Ten directors will be elected from the districts and divisions in Category-1, while one director will come from category-3 – players and other organisations.
‘I am astonished by the response of the clubs. I used to say often that there are 31-32 clubs alongside me, but at the moment we have 42 clubs present at this programme,’ said Nazmul, who faces a challenge from his party colleague Saber Hossain Chowdhury.
‘I am happy to see that there are so many people backing me and it is even more pleasing than winning the election itself,’ he said. ‘I have always said that a cricket administration needs to be run by both the players and organisers in order to take the game forward.’
-With New Age input
