BCB set to take legal action against Shakib Al Hasan
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is set to take legal action against senior all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan. It has been reported that the BCB is set to issue a show-cause notice to the Test and T20I skipper Shakib. This was after Shakib struck a deal with a telecom company, violating the terms and conditions of the board. Here's more.
BCB president Nazmul Hasan said that they will take strict action if Shakib is unable to provide a satisfactory reply. This has happened after Grameenphone, the local telecom giants, announced on October 22 that the country's leading all-rounder joined them as their brand ambassador to inspire and build an empowered digital society. Nazmul said Shakib has violated the BCB contract.
"He cannot make this agreement [with a telecom company] and why he cannot make this agreement is clearly stated in our contract paper," BCB president Nazmul told Bengali daily Kalerkantho. "Robi [Telecom] was our title sponsor and Grameenphone did not bid and instead they grabbed few cricketers by paying them TK One or Two Crores. The board lost TK 90 Crores in three years."
"Some players gained but the board had to suffer. It cannot happen. So they are informed about it on paper. I think even from the ministry they are told not to do any agreement with the telecom company," added Nazmul.
Nazmul said BCB will take legal action, besides asking for compensation. "We are going into legal action. We cannot spare anyone in this regard. We will ask for compensation. We will seek compensation from the company as well as from the player." He said Shakib will get a chance to explain his case. "I asked to send a letter to Shakib for explanation."
BCB chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury told Cricbuzz that they weren't aware. He added every cricketer under national contract must take permission from the board for their commercials. "We were not aware of his [Shakib's] deal with Grameenphone,'' said Nizamuddin. "Usually what happens is we don't encourage players to have any commercial deal with a company that can have conflict with the national sponsors."
Recently, the Bangladesh cricketers had called a strike and wanted their demands to be met by the BCB. The players had released a 11-point list. The announcement was made by senior players Shakib, Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim. On Wednesday, BCB agreed to most of the players' demands. "We have no problem to comply with what the players want," said BCB chief Nazmul.
The decision came as a relief for the BCB after the strike appeared set to create issues for the month-long tour of India. The Tigers are scheduled to play three T20I and two Tests, starting on November 3 in Delhi. India announced the T20I and Test squads to face Bangladesh. Virat Kohli has been rested for the T20Is. However, he will lead in Tests.
