BCB to start audit on board’s finances after corruption claims

The new president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), Faruque Ahmed, has announced plans to appoint a new auditing firm to investigate the board’s financial activities. This move comes after admitting that corruption occurred during the tenure of former president Nazmul Hasan, who recently resigned.

Speaking to the media after attending his first board meeting at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Faruque confirmed that an independent audit firm, selected from the top four firms in the country, will review the BCB’s finances. 

"We will appoint an independent audit firm from amongst the top four in the country. The decision was taken to find out the irregularities. If anything happened over the years, it will be unearthed after the audit. The Anti Corruption Commission will come into act if any irregularities are found. There was some corruption (in the board). I cannot deny it and everyone knows about it," Faruque said.

The BCB president also expressed the board’s intention to revisit the assessment report from the last World Cup and other reports that have not been made public. Faruque noted that BCB director Akram Khan, a member of the assessment committee for the 2023 World Cup, has advocated for the report’s release. 

"There is a report of the last World Cup while there are some reports of the past (that haven't come to light) and I told the CEO that I want to see them and will make a decision after seeing the report. This is totally logical (to make it public) and I want to bring it in front of the people and because I am not part of it there is no problem in revealing it and I want to disclose it (to the world)," he further added.

The review of the World Cup report could impact the future of head coach Chandika Hathurusingha. The assessment committee reportedly criticized Hathurusingha for Bangladesh's poor performance in the World Cup. His current contract extends until the end of the Champions Trophy in 2025. Faruque indicated that while discussions about the head coach's future are ongoing, no hasty decisions will be made. 

"I am president of the board and so I don't want to do anything that makes me look like I have become autocratic. I don't want to be a dictator. We have talked about Hathurusingha. We'll consider the case like the way we handled Shakib's case. I said that we don't want to do anything in between a Test series.

"We are now in the middle of the tour. As a president, you can take any decision but we have to think of not disturbing (the team). We are discussing it (what can be done with Hathurusingha) and will try to take everyone's opinion. It is like an investigation, we will take a good look at how much damage has been done to Bangladesh cricket during his tenure and then will take a decision. You can see something in the near future," he concluded.