Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)-Bangladesh has decided to revive the Twenty20 tournament in December, two years after the event was suspended following match-fixing scandals.
The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), which started in 2012, was postponed for an indefinite period after the second edition in 2013 as former Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful and four others involvement was found in the match-fixing scam.
“You all know very well why the BPL did not happen last year. There were a few irregularities which were addressed by the anti-corruption committee. That problem is solved now. Now we are looking forward to organise BPL again,” BPL Governing Committee Secretary Dr. I H Mallik told reporters about the progress that BCB had made in organising BPL on Tuesday.
Ashraful and four players and officials, including New Zealand batsman Luke Vincent, were banned for various periods after a tribunal set up jointly by the International Cricket Council and the Bangladesh Cricket Board found them guilty.
“Since the anti-corruption committee is constantly in contact with ICC and under their supervision abiding by certain rules set up for organizing any major domestic T20 league, we are attempting to establish the anti-corruption body so that we can monitor and ensure no such occurrences happen further,” said Dr. I H Mallik.
BCB chief executive officer Nizamuddin Chowdhury said they will follow ICC guidelines for the next edition of the tournament.
Mallik said new franchises were expected to be drafted since agreements with the seven teams which took part in the 2013 edition had been terminated.
“If FICA (Federation of International Cricketers Association) warns foreign players on not coming to the BPL based on reputation that is a great mistake. We are trying to ensure transparency and a realistic financial model for the tournament, so that it minimizes the issues that bring about such situations where someone becomes a defaulter,” he added.
“We are on the gaining side, but definitely not as much as everyone things he had gained. It is because we had to play the dues left by the franchises and had to deal with various monitory anomalies, and we also did not receive the money we were supposed to get, maybe because the initial deals made might have been unrealistic.”
Mallik said that BCB has completed "90 per cent payment" for international players and a former Bangladesh captain has been entrusted to settle the issue with local players.