BPL 2025-26: Bangladesh Cricket Board meets CID to make sure there's no corruption

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), with its Integrity Unit, sat alongside the Criminal Investigation Department — the government law enforcement agency on Sunday, December 21. The main agenda of the meeting was to discuss the course of action to be undertaken by the BCB to make sure there is no spot fixing or match fixing activities in the upcoming Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

Notably, the BPL 2025-26 will kick-start on Friday, and following the countless instances of corrupt actions and malpractices surrounding the league in the past, the board wants to ensure a stricter eye on the players, teams, and other match officials involved. Not long back, BCB had also appointed Alex Marshall, a former ICC anti-corruption unit officer, to its Integrity Unit.

The CID chief Sibgat Ullah, meanwhile, revealed the details of the meeting, conveying that it is going to be a long-term and a continuous practice to make sure that the spirit of the game is maintained at the highest order, especially when it comes to match fixing and/or spot fixing activities. The CID chief further said that they are trying to make sure no loopholes are in place to be exploited.

“We sat with the entire BCB team. Their legal people were there as well — all of us together. This is a continuous process. We are working with them. Our CID officials who are with the CPC (Cyber Police Centre), we are working on these issues a bit,” Sibgat Ullah told Cricbuzz.

“I won't go into the details, but there are some international norms and some protocols. We are trying to follow those. He is actually from the ICC side, right? By exchanging views with our CPC cyber policing officers, we are looking at what level we are at, where we want to go, what grey areas exist here, and what the gaps and lapses are-we are trying to frame this,” he added.

For fans, the game of cricket, or any other sport for that matter, is all about showing their attachment and affection towards the sport. As a result, the BCB and CID want to take combined efforts in making sure that there are no dark spots in the heart of the sport that fans love to the core.

“And our intention is to bridge those things so that our cricket, which is a place of emotion and love, remains somewhat pure so that there is no kind of black stain on it. With this objective, the CID is working with Alex and with the BCB,” he added.

The first match of the Bangladesh Premier League will be played on December 26 at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium, as Sylhet Strikers will host Rajshahi Titans in the tournament opener.