BCB won’t spare Shakib over Grameenphone deal, Papon says
Image : BCB
||CF Correspondent ||
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan Papon showed his tougher stance against disciplinary issue once again after he categorically said on Saturday that the board won’t spare Shakib Al Hasan for making a deal with country’s leading telecom company Grameenphone.
The ace all-rounder on Tuesday became the brand ambassador of Grameenphone, after striking a deal for an undisclosed sum at a moment when he was also leading a players' strike for better pay and benefits.
The BCB president said his deal violated the rules and regulations of the board as the premier all-rounder didn’t take any permission from the board.
Papon also said they will send a show-cause notice to Shakib, to give him the chance of defending first.
“According to our rules and regulations, he (Shakib) by no means can do it,” Papon said here on Saturday. “There is no doubt in it. All of the players and that telecom company also knows this well. We have an agreement on this issue (with the players). But as to why he did this, firstly we have to give him the chance to defend him. That’s why we are sending him a letter. But what is clear that he by no means can do it and it’s completely illegal.”
After Shakib’s answer to the show-cause letter, BCB will take the next course of action, Papon said.
The BCB president further made it clear that, if found guilty, Shakib won’t be spared.
“There is no question of sparing him if he is found guilty,” Papon said.
Just two years after he became BCB president in 2012, Papon-led BCB suspended Shakib Al Hasan from all cricket for six months and didn’t grant him NOC to play in overseas competitions until the end of 2015.
The punishment was handed out because of Shakib's "serious misbehaviour" with Bangladesh's then coach Chandika Hathurusingha, and for his altercation with a spectator during the recent first ODI against India in Mirpur.
Papon-led BCB however several times showed their zero tolerance policy in case of the lack of discipline.
Papon earlier said: “We are going to take legal action. There is no scope to spare anyone. We will seek compensation from both the company and the player,” Papon said.
Grameenphone -- which is majority owned by Norway's Telenor -- was the sponsor of Bangladesh Cricket Board during the period of 2009-2011.
Papon said the Board incurred huge losses after the company signed players individually instead of bidding to become the team sponsor in 2015 when a rival operator won the deal.
“This is why we barred the players to sign any agreement with telcos… yet, he (Shakib) did this. And you see the timing? Agreement after stopping play. These are audacious behaviour,” he said.
Sakib led a players' strike on Monday for better wages and demanding a larger share of board’s revenue.
The players called off the strike late on Wednesday and started training on Friday for next month's India tour as the BCB accepted most of their demands.
