Former Bangladesh Cricket Board president Saber Hossain Chowdhury hit back at Nazmul Hossain after the latter, upon his arrival from the International Cricket
Council annual conference, threatened to unmask him.
Nazmul alleged that a group of organisers, including Saber, is damaging Bangladesh cricket ahead of an election, which has remained suspended only because of an ongoing legal battle.
He blamed the group for dragging the matter to court despite the ICC having no objection to a constitution approved by the ICC. Nazmul also insisted that he will soon announce an election date after he received an ICC letter with certain observations about the constitution.
‘I don’t want to get into any sort of mud-slinging as it simply looks like a childish remark,’ Saber told New Age when his attention was drawn to the remarks made by Nazmul on his arrival at the airport.
‘It is sad and seems like conduct unbecoming of him.
‘If the ICC has the right to approve the constitution then why do we need to go through the formalities of the AGM and get it approved and sent to the NSC?
‘All we need to do is send it to the ICC and get it approved,’ said Saber.
The former BCB chief, who was instrumental in acheiving Test status for Bangladesh, suspects Nazmul’s remarks are an attempt at influencing the court on a sub judice matter.
‘He may have expressed himself in the media to influence the judicial system of the country, as the matter is yet to be decided in court,’ said Saber.
‘The ICC doesn’t have the right to draft an official letter to approve the BCB constitution. They can surely assess and recommend but it does not imply that the constitution will be approved by them.
‘Rather, it might be contempt of court as the matter is still hanging in the balance while an external body is trying to express its opinion concerning the matter,’ he added.
A High Court bench on January 28 declared the amendments made by the National Sport Council in the constitution of the BCB on November 29 to be illegal.
The verdict, however, was stayed by the appellate division a day later.
The High Court judgment stated that the NSC had no right to alter the BCB’s constitution, as per its section 26. That right is reserved only for the BCB councillors and, as the regulatory body, the NSC can only approve it without bringing any fundamental changes.
Saber, who is expected to be running as the major rival against Nazmul in the election, is skeptical as to whether there will be a
level-playing field during the upcoming BCB election, as the ad-hoc committee is looking to compete in the election while staying in their positions.
‘The job of the caretaker government is to hold the election but not to participate in it. They are doing the opposite’ said Saber.
-With New Age input
