ACC raids BCB headquarters over corruption allegations

In light of various irregularities and corruption allegations, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) conducted a raid at the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) headquarters in Mirpur on Tuesday. A special three-member team from the ACC carried out the operation at approximately 12 pm.

During a press briefing, ACC official Mahmudul Hasan informed the media, saying: "We came here today from the ACC's head office to conduct an enforcement operation. The main issue of the complaint was corruption in the selection process of various cricket leagues under the Bangladesh Cricket Board. This enforcement operation is being conducted based on allegations of illegal transactions and other irregularities."

"We had specific complaints today, particularly regarding the 2023 team selection for the Third Division Qualifying round. In previous years, the application fee was set at Tk 5 lakh. At that time, only two or three teams would apply, and one or two would be selected from those. This time, when the fee was reduced to Tk 1 lakh, 60 teams applied. We have collected the documents and will now verify and investigate these matters," he added.

The ACC official also raised concerns regarding ticket sales for the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

"There was also a matter related to ticket sales. From the 3rd to the 10th season of the BPL, BCB had income from ticket sales. It was shown that the revenue from those eight seasons amounted to 15 crore taka. But in the 11th season, when BCB sold tickets themselves, the income was reported to be around 13 crore taka," Mahmudul said, adding that they would investigate this issue.