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Bangladesh cricketers threaten boycott unless BCB director Nazmul Islam resigns
Bangladesh’s cricketers have threatened a boycott of all forms of cricket unless BCB director M Nazmul Islam tenders his resignation, following disparaging comments he made against players on Wednesday. Nazmul, the board’s finance committee chairman, had said earlier on Wednesday that he believes national cricketers should be asked to return the “crores and crores of taka” that the BCB spends on them.
Mohammad Mithun, the president of the Cricketers Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB), raised the prospect of a boycott – which will have immediate impact on the BPL – hours after Nazmul’s press conference at the BCB’s headquarters in Dhaka.
“The remark made by the BCB director Najmul Islam has hurt the cricket fraternity greatly and it’s not acceptable,” Mithun told reporters on Wednesday evening. “We demand his resignation. If he doesn’t resign before tomorrow’s match, we will announce a boycott of all cricket, starting from the BPL matches tomorrow (Thursday).”
There are two BPL matches scheduled for January 15. ESPNcricinfo understands that team captains Najmul Hossain Shanto (Rajshahi Warriors), Mehidy Hasan Miraz (Sylhet Titans), Mahedi Hasan (Chattogram Royals) and Mithun (Dhaka Capitals), along with Noakhali coach Khaled Mahmud have confirmed their solidarity with the boycott call.
Nazmul’s comments, which the BCB has officially distanced itself from, were made on the sidelines of the board’s prayer meeting for the late former prime minister Khaled Zia. They come as part of ongoing reverberations from the BCB’s decision to not play matches in India at the upcoming T20 World Cup. The ICC event is co-hosted with Sri Lanka and the BCB, citing security concerns, has remained firm in not wanting to play games in India, a decision they made after the BCCI instructed the Kolkata Knight Riders to remove Mustafizur Rahman from their playing roster.
Nazmul was asked questions about the potential financial implications for Bangladesh should they end up not playing in the T20 World Cup at all. He responded by saying the board would not take a hit and that only the cricketers would, adding that there would be no compensation for them should they miss out. “Why would there be? Are we asking them for the crores and crores of taka that we are spending on them? Answer me first.
“We are spending so much money on them, they are not being able to do anything in different places. Have we got any international awards? What have we done at any level? Let us now ask them for the money back after every time they couldn’t play. Give us back. Why should there even be a question of compensating the players?”
The BCB released a statement soon after, making it clear Nazmul’s views were his alone. “The Board expresses its sincere regret for remarks that may be deemed inappropriate, offensive, or hurtful. Such comments do not reflect the values, principles, or official position of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, nor do they align with the standards of conduct expected from individuals entrusted with the responsibility of serving Bangladesh cricket.
“The BCB reiterates that it does not endorse or take responsibility for any statement or remark made by any director or Board member unless issued formally through the Board’s designated spokesperson or the Media & Communications Department. Any statements made outside these authorised channels are personal in nature and should not be interpreted as representing the views or policies of the Board.
“The Bangladesh Cricket Board also makes it clear that it will take appropriate disciplinary action against any individual whose conduct or comments show disrespect towards cricketers or cause harm to the reputation and integrity of Bangladesh cricket.”
It is the second time in quick succession that Nazmul has put himself in the spotlight for comments against players. Earlier this week he had hit out at Tamim Iqbal in a Facebook post, over comments the former Bangladesh captain made last Friday, calling for the BCB to think through more carefully their decision-making over participation in the T20 World Cup. “Bangladesh cricket’s interest, future and everything else must be considered before making such a decision,” Tamim had said, urging for a resolution to be found through dialogue.
Nazmul and another board director Asif Akbar were harsh in their response to Tamim’s statement, saying that he was acting in the interests of India on this issue.
[Cricinfo]
Three prison guards attached to the Welikada Prison have been arrested by Borella Police following the death of an inmate on Monday (04).
Spanish police have seized what is thought to be a national record haul of cocaine from a ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
Between 30,000 to 45,000kg were found when the Civil Guard intercepted a freighter in international waters, the body’s main union, the AUGC, announced. It called the move a “historic blow to drug trafficking”.
The vessel was intercepted off Spain’s Canary Islands on Friday and around 20 people were arrested, the AUGC told the AFP news agency. It had travelled from Sierra Leona and was on its way to Libya.
The Civil Guard has declined to give details of the investigation for legal reasons.
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told reporters in Madrid that the seizure was “one of the biggest, not only nationally but internationally”.
The Civil Guard shared a photograph on X showing the drugs stuffed into the hold of the intercepted vessel.
“Today history is being written in the Maritime Service of the Civil Guard,” it wrote.
“Intercepted in international waters the largest known seizure: between 30,000 and 45,000 kg of cocaine on board a freighter.”
While the boat was headed to Libya, AFP reported that the pattern of previous operations suggests that it was due to offload the drugs onto smaller vessels for distribution in Europe.
In January, Spanish authorities made its biggest seizure of cocaine at sea from a ship that was carrying almost 10 tonnes.
[BBC]
Three people have died and a UK national is seriously ill in hospital after a suspected hantavirus outbreak on a small cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
The operator of the MV Hondius ship, tour company Oceanwide Expeditions, said a Dutch husband and wife, as well as a German national, had died but the cause has not yet been established.
However, the Dutch company said hantavirus has been confirmed in the case of the 69-year-old UK national who is in intensive care in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Hantavirus is usually passed to humans from rodents via their faeces, saliva or urine. It can cause severe respiratory illness. Rarely, it can be transmitted between people.
The MV Hondius vessel is currently off the coast of Cape Verde and has 149 people onboard.
Oceanwide Expeditions said there were also two crew members on board “with acute respiratory symptoms, one mild and one severe”.
They were of British and Dutch nationality and both required urgent medical care, it said. It said it had not been established that hantavirus had been confirmed in the pair. And it added that no other persons with symptoms had been identified.
Negotiations are in progress with local authorities following what Oceanwide Expeditions described as “a serious medical situation”.
Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, South Africa’s minister of health, said of the British patient that he was critical and had been admitted to a private facility.
“He’s being taken care of. As you know, hantavirus, like all viruses, don’t have any specific treatment, so they are giving symptomatic treatment and support as much as they could.”
He said health workers and anyone who had contact with the patient would now be traced and tested.
Outlining a timeline, the company said a passenger had become unwell while onboard and died on 11 April.
His cause of death could not be determined, and his body was taken off the ship after it docked at St Helena on 24 April.
The passenger’s wife also disembarked on St Helena and the firm said it was told she had become unwell during the return journey and later died.
“At this time, it has not been confirmed that these two deaths are connected to the current medical situation on board,” it added.
On 27 April, the firm said, another passenger – the British national – became seriously ill and was “medically evacuated” to South Africa.
The 69-year-old remains in a critical but stable condition in Johannesburg after it was confirmed a variant of hantavirus had been identified.
The firm added that on Saturday, a third passenger onboard MV Hondius died.
The cause of death has not been established, Oceanwide Expeditions said. It confirmed the passenger was German.
Oceanwide Expeditions said the cause of the deaths were being investigated.
“The disembarkation of passengers, medical evacuation and medical screening require permission from, and co-ordination with, the local health authorities,” it said. “Local health authorities have visited the vessel and assessed the situation.
“The medical transfer of the two ill persons on board has not yet taken place.”
It added that the option of sailing on to Las Palmas or Tenerife was being considered “to be the gateway for disembarkation, where further medical screening and handling could take place”.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said it was “acting with urgency” to support the MV Hondius, and thanked South African authorities for taking care of the British patient.
WHO’s regional director for Europe, Dr Hans Henri P Kluge, said: “I am in close contact with our teams to ensure a co-ordinated, science-based response.
“Hantavirus infections are uncommon and usually linked to exposure to infected rodents.
“While severe in some cases, it is not easily transmitted between people. The risk to the wider public remains low. There is no need for panic or travel restrictions.”
According to the South African government, MV Hondius departed from Ushuaia in southern Argentina about three weeks ago, before it completed its journey to Cape Verde, where it is anchored outside the capital, Praia.
It is described as a 107.6m (353ft) polar cruise ship, with space for 170 passengers in 80 cabins, along with 57 crew members, 13 guides and one doctor.
One passenger onboard the MV Hondius, who asked to remain anonymous, told the BBC: “The latest word is that a plane is on its way and once it gets here three people will be evacuated from the ship and flown straight to Europe.
“Then the rest of us will almost certainly sail to the Canary Islands.
“The Cape Verde authorities clearly want nothing to do with us. This is what we’re hearing from the captain and staff. From what I can see the mood (on the ship) is pretty good.
“Only one person has been tested (the one now in South Africa) and he tested positive for hantavirus. So, we don’t actually know yet if the other cases are that or something unrelated.
“If they are all hantavirus then the transmission is a bit mysterious. We’ve been informed that there are no rodents on board, and person-to-person transmission is difficult/rare.
“Hopefully the other patients on board will be tested soon and then we’ll know better what’s going on.”
President of the Cape Verdean Public Health Institute, Maria Da Luz, said passengers would not be disembarking in Cape Verde in order to protect the local population, Cape Verde’s media outlet A Nacao reports.
Oceanwide Expeditions said strict precautionary measures were in process on board, including isolation measures, hygiene protocols and medical monitoring.
“All passengers have been informed and are being supported,” it said.
“Oceanwide Expeditions is in close contact with those directly involved and their families, and is providing support where possible.”
Microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles told the BBC the time between people being exposed to hantavirus and showing symptoms could be anywhere from one to eight weeks.
“With this incubation period are we going to see more people coming down with the disease in the next days and weeks?”
The UK Foreign Office told the BBC it was monitoring reports, and ready to support British nationals.
Hantavirus was in the headlines last year after the wife of Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman died from a respiratory illness linked to hantavirus in March 2025.
[BBC]
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