ICC clears stance on Bangladesh visit ahead of BCB election

Since the two-member ICC delegation in Bangladesh on June 1 ahead of the Bangladesh Cricket Board's election - scheduled on June 7 - there were lots of speculations floating in the air regarding their visit.

The two ICC board representatives -- Dr Mohammed Moosajee of Cricket South Africa and Tavengwa Mukuhlani of Zimbabwe Cricket -- met ad-hoc board head Tamim Iqbal and influential director Faim Sinha on the day of their arrival while rumors started floating from Tuesday (June 2) after the delegation met four former directors of the Aminul Islam Bulbul-led board at a city hotel.

Earlier, the National Sports Council (NSC) dissolved the Bulbul-led board on April 7 based on the findings of a five-member probe committee. The move was taken under Section 21 of the NSC's 2018 policy, which allows action against any sports body under its jurisdiction if irregularities are proven. On the same day, the NSC appointed former national captain Tamim as head of an 11-member ad hoc committee.

The former directors of the Bulbul-led board -- M. Najmul Islam, Ahsan Iqbal Chowdhury Zaman, Asif Akbar and Md Hasanuzzaman -- were accompanied by their legal counsel, Advocate Mokarramus Shaklan during their meeting with the two ICC representatives. Following the meeting, the Bulbul-led committee issued a press release stating that it had urged the ICC not to recognise any election conducted by or under the authority of the ad hoc committee on June 7 or at any other time.

"No such election can be considered a legitimate and autonomous BCB election while the ad hoc committee's legal status remains under challenge before the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and while the ICC's own investigation into alleged governmental interference is ongoing," the press release stated.

The Bulbul-led committee claimed that the ICC delegation was not in Bangladesh in connection with any election process undertaken by the ad hoc committee. It also asserted that the ICC representatives were not serving as election observers.

The ICC cleared their position on Thursday regarding the visit and insisted that they will submit their findings regarding developments linked to the BCB.

"A two-member delegation appointed by the International Cricket Council (ICC), comprising ICC Board Directors Dr Mohammed A.S. Moosajee (Cricket South Africa) and Mr Tavengwa Mukuhlani (Zimbabwe Cricket), recently visited Bangladesh to engage with a range of stakeholders to review developments linked to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB)," ICC said in a statement.

"The ICC wishes to clarify that the delegation will submit its findings and observations to the ICC Board in due course and will not be making any media comment on the matter," it said.

"Any media reports, commentary or claims regarding the visit are therefore speculative and do not represent the ICC's position," it added, suggesting the claims of the Bulbul-led committee are speculative.