At last, some of the speculation surrounding this year’s BPL has been cleared.
Following an extended investigation by BCB’s anti-corruption consultant Alex Marshall, the BPL Governing Council Saturday published the final player list for today’s auction, excluding nine cricketers suspected of involvement in fixing during the previous BPL.
The twelfth BPL auction will be held this afternoon at the Radisson Hotel.
A three-member BCB investigation committee led by former Appellate Division judge Mirza Hussain Haider identified nine local and one foreign cricketer as suspects in last season’s fixing incidents.
The report also includes the names of 6–7 franchise officials, one coach, and one media manager as suspects. The other two members of the committee were internationally renowned lawyer Khaled H Chowdhury and former cricketer Shakil Kasem.
Among the nine accused cricketers who were omitted from the final auction list, eight had originally been in the preliminary list. They are: Duronto Rajshahi’s Anamul Haque, Shafiul Islam, Sanjamul Islam, and Mizanur Rahman; Dhaka Capitals’ Mosaddek Hossain and Alauddin Babu; and Sylhet Strikers’ Ariful Haque and Nihaduzzaman.
Ariful was initially not in the preliminary list but was later added. Anamul, Mosaddek, Shafiul, Sanjamul, and Ariful have all played for the national team. Another accused national cricketer, Sylhet Strikers’ Al-Amin Hossain, was not included in the preliminary list—or in the final list.
Multiple sources confirmed to Prothom Alo that these 11 cricketers were among the initial suspects. Including the coach and franchise officials, a total of 20 individuals were accused.
Sources say that the investigation report also initially included the names of Duronto Rajshahi’s Sohag Gazi and Sri Lankan cricketer Thisara Perera, who played for Dhaka Capitals. However, both were cleared by Alex Marshall’s investigation and therefore included in the final auction list.
Multiple sources confirmed to Prothom Alo that these 11 cricketers were among the initial suspects. Including the coach and franchise officials, a total of 20 individuals were accused.
Sources added that among the suspected cricketers, one player and two officials from the same franchise have been marked with the ICC’s “red flag”—meaning they are also listed as suspects by the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit.
The “red-flagged” cricketer was reportedly involved in suspicious activities not only in the past BPL but in the one before that as well. Yet, he claimed to the committee that he does not know why the ICC considers him suspicious.
The allegations against him and the other suspected cricketers fall under three main categories– direct involvement in fixing specific incidents in matches, assisting or proposing fixing, and concealing information.
Alongside the two red-flagged officials, the independent investigation also named four other franchise officials, one coach, one media manager, and one official from the BCB’s Anti-Corruption Unit. However, the committee did not accuse all of them of direct involvement in fixing.
One franchise owner was accused of failing to run the franchise properly. The committee believes poor management created opportunities for players and staff to engage in illegal activities.
Sources say the suspected media manager was not directly linked to fixing, but his frequent unauthorised presence in restricted-access areas raised suspicion. An Anti-Corruption Unit official who held a key role during last year’s BPL was accused of negligence of duty.
A member of the investigation committee, requesting anonymity, told Prothom Alo, “Based on the evidence and information found during our inquiry, we recommended further investigation into several players and officials. Following Alex Marshall’s investigation, the BCB excluded certain players from the final auction list.”
Explaining why some names were removed from the final list, the BCB said in a press release that based on the committee’s recommendations, several players and officials would not be allowed to participate in this year’s BPL. However, they will face no restrictions in other domestic cricket for now.
Although the list of non-player suspects was not made public, the BPL Governing Council has instructed franchises not to involve any of those individuals with their teams this season.
They produced a report and simply removed us! We’re not proven guilty, but still banned from playing BPL—what kind of logic is that? It sounds ridiculous
Anamul Haque
Council member secretary Iftekhar Rahman told reporters Saturday, “Those who are red-flagged cannot be part of any team. They cannot be on the field, in the dressing room, on the team bus, or at the hotel. This is the rule—this is how integrity units function worldwide.”
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