BCB denies removing Abu Sayed Stand from Mirpur stadium, blames "misinformation"

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Thursday rejected claims that it had scrapped the Shaheed Abu Sayed Stand at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (SBNCS) in Mirpur, calling the reports part of a "deliberate attempt to spread misinformation."

“The BCB wishes to make it absolutely clear that the Board has not taken any decision whatsoever to change or drop the name of the Shaheed Abu Sayed Stand or other stands at the SBNCS and international venues across the country for that matter,” read the BCB statement.

The denial came after several outlets and former Sports Adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan on Wednesday alleged that the gallery named after Abu Sayed, the first martyr of the July Revolution, had been removed.

“After August 5th, we had named a gallery at Mirpur Stadium in honor of martyr Abu Sayed. The new government's illegitimate BCB president has removed it. Thanks to the new government, the nepo-kids, and the new president,” read a post on Asif Mahmud’s official Facebook page, alongside an image of the gallery with ‘Shaheed Abu Sayed Stand’ signage absent.

BCB presented an explanation behind the images in the statement, saying, “It should also be noted that signages bearing stand names may get damaged or temporarily removed from time to time as part of regular maintenance of the SBNCS and other venues. Such maintenance is always carried out on non-match days.

In its statement, BCB also added images of tickets of recent international matches held at the venue, which bore the name ‘Shaheed Aby Sayed Stand’, as proof that the name has never been dropped.

Without naming anyone in particular, the BCB said it viewed the controversy as an attempt to damage its image and that of the present board.

“The BCB believes that this particular issue is part of a deliberate attempt to spread misinformation and false statements across social media platforms, with the intention of undermining the image and reputation of the BCB and the present Board. The BCB reserves the right to address such attempts strictly and appropriately, in accordance with the Board’s policies.”