Tamim Iqbal takes the chair as BCB president at its headquarters in the city on Tuesday- BCB The National Sports Council (NSC) dissolved the elected board of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Tuesday following an investigation that uncovered, according to the NSC, widespread fraud, coercion, and government interference during the last election, report agencies.
Former national captain Tamim Iqbal has been appointed to lead an 11-member ad-hoc committee to steer the organisation.
NSC Sports Director Aminul Ehsan announced that the ad-hoc committee is mandated to manage the board's daily operations and hold a free, fair, and transparent election within the next three months before handing over power to a newly elected body.
The dissolution stems from a comprehensive probe into the 2025 BCB elections, which took place under the interim government and former Sports Adviser Asif Mahmud.
The NSC claimed, the investigation revealed a highly coordinated effort to rig the election, heavily utilising a compromised e-voting system. Investigators found that voters were coerced by government officials into casting electronic ballots collectively from a specific location-the Hotel Sheraton in Banani in the city-destroying the fundamental democratic principle of a secret ballot.
The report stated the electronic system was pre-planned specifically to manipulate the outcome.
According to the findings, Asif Mahmud, his assistant Saiful Islam, and now ousted BCB President Aminul Islam orchestrated an overarching campaign to control the electoral process.
They reportedly exerted severe pressure on district and divisional presidents, including local deputy commissioners, to nominate favored individuals. According to NSC, to facilitate this, the BCB repeatedly extended nomination deadlines without valid justification, covertly replacing previously nominated councilors with preferred candidates.
The manipulation extended to voter registries and regional bodies, the NSC further said. The final voter list was delayed and published in multiple conflicting versions, with a revised list mysteriously adding voters from five previously excluded districts just days before the polls. To pack the voter base, the NSC illegally expanded the membership of several regional ad-hoc committees-such as in Chattogram and Rangpur-beyond the constitutional limit of seven members. Furthermore, many of these expired ad-hoc committees were allowed to submit councilor names well past their 90-day legal mandates.
Investigators also cited severe abuses of executive power by Aminul. He unilaterally nominated 10 former cricketers as councilors without the required board authorization. And, government officials used their influence to force the inclusion of Aminul and Nazmul Abedeen Fahim into Dhaka-based ad-hoc committees, guaranteeing their subsequent elections as BCB directors.
Despite the gravity of the allegations surrounding the coercive voting environment, former Sports Adviser Mahmud and his APS both refused to attend interviews with the investigation committee to defend against the charges. Joining Tamim Iqbal on the newly formed ad-hoc committee are Rashna Imam, Mirza Yasir Abbas, Syed Ibrahim Ahmed, Israfil Khosru, Minhajul Abedin, Athar Ali Khan, Tanjil Chowdhury, Salman Ispahani, Rafiqul Islam, and Fahim Sinha. Last month, with approval from State Minister for Youth and Sports Aminul Haque, the NSC formed a five-strong inquiry committee to examine allegations of irregularities and manipulation in the most recent BCB election.
The panel, headed by retired Supreme Court justice AKM Asaduzzaman, submitted its findings on Sunday.
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