Bangladesh to issue show-cause notice to Shakib Al Hasan over telecom company deal
The Bangladesh Cricket Board will issue a show-cause notice to its Test and T20I skipper Shakib Al Hasan as his deal with local telecom giants, Grameenphone, was in violation of the terms and conditions of the board. Grameenphone announced Shakib as their brand ambassador on October 22.
A day after the country’s cricketers called for a strike, placing an 11-point demand to the board, Grameenphone announced that the decision to join hands with the nation’s leading all-rounder to inspire and build a digitally empowered society. The strike eventually ended on October 23, and Shakib is in direct violation of the BCB players’ agreement that states that a cricketer under national contract cannot join a telecom company.
"He cannot make this agreement [with a telecom company] and why he cannot make this agreement is clearly stated in our contract paper," BCB president Nazmul Hasan told Bengali daily Kalerkantho, reported Cricbuzz.
"Robi was our title sponsor and Grameenphone did not bid and instead they grabbed few cricketers by paying them TK One or Two Crores. What happened in the end? The board lost TK 90 Crores in three years," he continued.
"Some players gained but the board had to suffer. It cannot happen. So they are informed about it on paper. I think even from the ministry they are told not to do any agreement with the telecom company without informing them while it is there in our contract paper. Then how come he does this agreement without informing us. And look at the timing. It was done when there was no cricket [due to strike]. Look at the audacity,'' Hasan said.
The president further clarified that the board is prepared to proceed with strict legal action if Shakib’s reply is proved to be unsatisfactory.
"We are going into legal action. We cannot spare anyone in this regard. We will ask for compensation. We will seek compensation from the company as well as from the player. I heard about it [on October 23] and asked to send legal notice to Grameenphone to claim compensation. I asked to send a letter to Shakib for an explanation. We must give him a chance to show he didn't break the rule. To us, it seemed that it was something like 'give a damn to the board' and if that is the case we will take tough action,'' Hasan added.
Chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury confirmed to Cricbuzz that the board was not aware of the deal with Grameenphone, as every cricketer under the national contract must take permission from the board for their commercials.