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In preparation for
the establishment of its own TV station, the BCB enacted two changes to its
constitution on Sunday during the 2024 Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Dhaka.
With this channel filling in any gaps, the board hopes to guarantee that every
match of competitive cricket it conducts across the nation is televised.
BCB president Nazmul Hassan said that the TV channel will generally show
domestic matches and those international matches that their broadcast partners
can’t show. “T-Sports and Gazi TV show most of our matches. If they cannot
show some matches, we want to show those matches,” Hassan said. “They
are showing the men’s Test match, so they can’t show the women’s series. We
want both to be on TV, so we need to have an option.
“We also want
to show domestic cricket on TV. Everyone thinks that it will raise the standard
of cricket in the country. People can then see the standard of umpiring in
domestic cricket, for example.”
The amendments were made to sub-clauses 6.17 and 6.20, which fall under the
“scope and responsibility” section of the BCB’s constitution. The new
6.17 sub-clause allows the board to enhance its financial transactions and
banking activities. The new 6.20 sub-clause talks of the option to form
“one or more trusts, companies, societies/foundations as necessary to
achieve ancillary objectives including enhancement of infrastructural,
economic, commercial and social facilities for the development of cricket
across the country”.
BCB chief executive
Nizamuddin Chowdhury said the idea was not to turn the national board into a
“business enterprise”, but launching a TV channel would require the
board to strengthen its legal framework.
“According to our legal advice, we have made the amendments to bring more
dynamism to our financial transactions and banking activities,” Chowdhury
said. “As you know there are many criteria of Bangladesh Bank that we have
to meet to make banking transactions.
“[That BCB is looking to become a business enterprise] is misleading
information. There’s a difference between company formation and floating shares
of a company in the share market. We have a plan to form BCB TV, for which we
have to come into a legal framework through the BCB’s constitution.”