Former Bangladesh Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Aminul Islam on Friday categorically denied reports that he had asked the International Cricket Council (ICC) to stop funding the country’s cricket body.
Islam, who was sacked as the BCB chairman on April 7 when the National Sports Council (NSC) dissolved the entire board citing widespread irregularities in the previous election based on the findings of the inquiry committee, insisted that the reports were fabricated as he had not made such a request to the top body.
“I have seen a message circulating that Bangladesh has requested the ICC to stop funding. That is absolutely impossible, something I have never done, this has not happened. It is a complete myth,” Islam said in a video statement.
Islam further asserted that the same group that had targeted him during his tenure as BCB chief was spreading misinformation and had repeatedly tried to portray lies as facts.
“This syndicate that operates in this way harassed me every day when I was working in Bangladesh. They tried to establish every lie as truth, but they always failed and they will fail this time,” Islam continued.
“To give you an example, when I was in Bangladesh, one of the many lies on a daily basis was that they would usually say that I had been sent overseas to Australia or somewhere else.
Islam reiterated that he would never make such a request to harm Bangladesh cricket and questioned why the ICC would accept such a request.
“Later, those claims were proved to be false and their lies never got traction. This is another lie because I would never make a request to the ICC to do any harm to Bangladesh. Why should the ICC listen to me? I don’t have that kind of access to the ICC anyway,” Islam said.
“I hope you understand the situation and I hope we don’t let this misconception take root. Know that we stand with Bangladesh cricket. Rest assured, we want Bangladesh cricket to progress and prosper; that’s what we want. Take care.”
Reports in the Bangladeshi media surfaced earlier today that Bulbul submitted a nearly 14-page letter to the ICC earlier this week questioning the team’s legitimacy.
In the letter, he demanded that he be reinstated as the BCB president, arguing that the current administration has no legal standing and requested the ICC to stop funding the board.
Aminul requested the ICC to freeze funds for Bangladesh. The reports further said that the ICC informed the PCB about the letter and the board responded after consulting its legal team.