BCB to investigate BPL fixing allegations

BCB president Nazmul Hassan has confirmed that a Bangladesh player was questioned by the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) officers last week. There will be a meeting between the BCB and the ACSU on Monday, which will be the first meeting between the two to discuss suspected match-fixing and spot-fixing allegations in this year's Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

According to reports, the ACSU have been investigating a number of BPL matches involving Dhaka Gladiators, in particular three games which they lost. The Gladiators went on to win the 2013 tournament.

Hassan said he had talked to the Bangladesh batsman Mohammed Ashraful. "He (Ashraful) told me that the ACSU talked to him and he told them everything," Hassan said. "Whatever he knew, whatever's the truth, he can't disclose these things because of the ACSU'S bindings. I think what Ashraful has said is not the bigger matter. The bigger deal is the ACSU's report and what kind of decision we take [in light of the investigation].

"On Monday, we will have our first sitting with them [ACSU] after the investigation. I will come to know then what's going on. Regarding the BPL, spot-fixing or match-fixing, everything depends on their investigation. Because we haven't done any investigation of our own we gave the responsibility to them. Saying anything before that is difficult."

Hassan also stressed on punishing the parties that are found guilty of corruption, but he doubted one clause in the ICC's anti-corruption policy which he said states that a team that loses a game for strategic reasons can escape punishment.

"We have to know what grade of offence this is. The ICC has its grading. I heard that if a team throws the match for strategic reasons that won't be a fault. So after listening to this I was shocked. In my opinion that's match-fixing, but the ACSU doesn't consider it. I need to know the laws properly. We will consult our legal advisors after finding out what the report is. We will give a stern decision.

"If franchises are responsible obviously they will get punished. If I run a team then the team is mine, I take my players, I train them so I have a big influence on the team. Whether the players agree or not [with the franchise's decision], they might have to agree. So what happened and who is responsible, we need to figure that out. So did I do the wrongdoing out of no hope or was it out of my own wish? We need to find this out. But obviously everybody will get punished."

Hassan, however, said he did not believe the BPL would "close down because of this incident." He said if the BCB could "handle this situation this time and punish the ones who deserve to be punished then I am sure that BPL won't face this problem in the future."