Sports journalists staged a full boycott of the final after the Bangladesh Cricket Board failed to meet their demand for an apology.
The protest followed a warning issued to photojournalist Tanvin Tamim. He had taken a photo from the President’s Box during a match in Mirpur, Dhaka. The image showed Faruque Ahmed pointing his finger towards fellow board director M Najmul Islam. The photo led to more talk of a dispute inside the board, after rumours suggested the same earlier.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board later sent a formal warning to Tanvin Tamim over the image.
Faruque Ahmed denied any dispute. His speech indicated that there was no problem between the directors. He also claimed the photo may have been created using AI. He added that the discussion was normal and work related.
The warning triggered anger among journalists. Before the final, reporters present at the venue held a joint meeting. They agreed that the warning was wrong in both reason and process. They demanded a formal apology from the BCB.
They set 6:00 pm as the deadline. They also informed the head of the BCB media department. The journalists said they would leave the ground together if no apology came.
When the deadline passed without any response, the boycott began.
Journalists left the venue and announced a total blackout of coverage. There were no match reports, reels, videos, interviews, or related content from a big number of media houses — only news about the boycott was allowed.
The journalists arrived at SBNCS, Mirpur with a banner with the writing, “Journalism is not a crime.”
The boycott affected the final of the Odommo Bangladesh T20 Cup and added fresh pressure on the Bangladesh Cricket Board amid growing criticism of its actions.
