BCB charges three, including former board director Mukhlesur, over BPL corruption
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has charged three individuals – including a former board of director – with breaches of the International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption Code in connection with the 12th edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) on Tuesday.
The charges follow an investigation by the Bangladesh Cricket Board Integrity Unit (BCBIU) into alleged corrupt conduct, failure to disclose information, failure to cooperate with investigators, and obstruction or delay of the probe.
Mukhlesur Rahman Shamim, a former board director during Aminul Islam Bulbul’s tenure as the BCB president, faces four charges under the Code.
He has been charged under Article 2.1.1 for fixing or influencing the result, progress or conduct of a match or matches in the BPL T20's 12th edition, or attempting to do so.
He also faces charges under Article 2.1.4, for soliciting or encouraging a participant to engage in corrupt conduct, and Article 2.4.4, for failing to disclose an approach to engage in corrupt conduct to the Designated Anti-Corruption Official (DACO).
A fourth charge, under Article 2.4.7, accuses him of obstructing the investigation by concealing, deleting or destroying communications or information relevant to it.
Mukhlesur, who was also the chairman of BCB audit committee, had stepped down from the BCB in January amid media speculation of his name coming up in the investigation report.
Zakir Hossain, former BCB security liaison officer, has been charged under Articles 2.1.1 and 2.1.4 of the Code, mirroring the match-fixing and inducement charges against Mukhlesur.
He faces an additional charge under Article 2.4.6, for failing or refusing, without compelling justification, to cooperate with the DACO's investigation, including non-compliance with a demand notice issued under Article 4.3.
Rakibul Islam Sunny, former BCB councilor for Bogura district and former member secretary of the BCB Audit Committee, has been charged under Articles 2.4.4 and 2.4.6 of the Code.
“The charged Participants have been provisionally suspended and have 14 (fourteen) days from receipt of the Notices of Charge to respond to the charges as part of the disciplinary process under the Code,” read the BCB statement.