Tamim Iqbal elected BCB president unopposed

Tamim Iqbal has been elected president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, winning 73 of a possible 74 votes to become a director before being confirmed as the board’s 17th president by a vote of the newly elected directors.

The election was held on 7 June at the BCB offices at Mirpur’s Shere Bangla National Stadium. Tamim stood as a councillor representing Old DOHS Club in the club category and topped the poll by a comfortable margin. He was then elected president unopposed, as no other candidate had put themselves forward for the position. Fahim Sinha was named vice-president.

The BCB board will consist of 25 directors in total. Two will come as representatives of the National Sports Council. Of the remaining 23, eight had already been elected unopposed before the vote, with three candidates having withdrawn their candidacies ahead of Eid. Those eight included former national chief selector Minhajul Abedin Nannu from Chittagong, and Sirajuddin Mohammad Alamgir from Category 3, who was elected without contest. Alamgir, a former BCB director and head of the physical education department at Chittagong University, is also Tamim’s uncle.

Twelve directors were elected from the club category on the day. Alongside Tamim, the successful candidates were Fahim Sinha, Masuduzzaman, Rafiqul Islam, Sayeed Ibrahim, Ishrafil Khosru, Shanian Tanim, Yasir Faisal, Mirza Yasir, Sakif Ahmed and Dr Sarkar Mahbub Ahmed Shamim. The four unsuccessful candidates were Major Imroz Ahmed (retd), Amjad Hossain, Fayazur Mitu and Borhanul Hossain Pappu. Amjad and Mitu had both served as directors on the previous board.

The remaining three directors were elected from the Khulna and Barishal divisions. Mizanur Rahman, owner of BPL franchise Fortune Barishal, was elected from Barishal Division, while Shantanu Islam and Shafiqul Alam came through from Khulna Division. The two NSC representatives are Sheikh Mohammad Ruhul Amin and Mohammad Sarfaraz Ahmed.

This is the second BCB election within eight months. Last October, Aminul Islam Bulbul had been elected president, with Faruque Ahmed and Shakhawat Hossain as vice-presidents. That board was dissolved on 7 April, after which Tamim was appointed head of an ad hoc committee. His election on 7 June now gives him a formal mandate to lead the board he has effectively been running since April.