Papon resigns, Faruque Ahmed becomes new BCB president

Nazmul Hassan Papon had earlier indicated that he was ready to step down as the President of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), as mentioned by a board director. In the following days, several activities took place at the BCB, including today's emergency board meeting.

The main purpose of the meeting, which was held at the Youth and Sports Ministry at the Bangladesh Secretariat, was to prepare for a new president. In keeping with his word, Papon has resigned from his position as BCB president.

His resignation was sent via email and was accepted during the meeting. Former national team captain and former chief selector Faruque Ahmed has been appointed as the new BCB president.

The BCB announced this in a statement after the meeting. Faruque was nominated as a BCB director by the National Sports Council (NSC) and was then elected as the president.

Papon's resignation marks the end of his 12-year leadership of the BCB. He first became BCB president in 2012 when the government appointed him. In October 2013, he was elected as president. Since then, the former Member of Parliament from the Awami League had served three terms as the head of the country's cricket governing body.

He faced no competition in any of the elections. In 2021, Papon remarked that no one would want to become the BCB president until his death. However, with time, not only has Papon stepped down, but the entire face of the BCB is changing.

Papon had to set the stage for his own departure. Although the emergency meeting was announced by BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury, it was ordered by Papon himself.

Following the fall of Sheikh Hasina and her government, changes are sweeping across the country, including at the BCB. As part of major transformations, Jalal Yunus, the head of the cricket operations department, resigned a few days ago. He was asked to step down by the NSC to make way for the new president.

The NSC issued the directive because Yunus became a BCB director through his position as an NSC councillor. Similarly, another NSC-appointed director of the BCB, Ahmed Sajjadul Alam Bobby, was also asked to resign from his position as a councillor and BCB director by NSC Secretary Aminul Islam. However, he has not yet resigned.

The resignations were intended to make room for two new directors to join the BCB's board. It had been planned that one of them would be elected as the new president. Two names were frequently mentioned in the media—Faruque Ahmed and veteran coach Nazmul Abedeen Fahim.

With Jalal Yunus stepping down, Faruque Ahmed became the president. However, since Sajjadul Alam has not yet resigned, the appointment of Nazmul Abedeen as a director is still uncertain.