BCB set to propose making match-fixing a criminal offence in Bangladesh

Mumbai, Dec 15 (IANS) Bangladesh is set to become the latest country to make match-fixing a criminal offence, with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Integrity Unit working with the government to introduce a law against the menace. A news report said on Monday.

Mahin M. Rahman, BCB Integrity Unit’s counsel, has informed that they are working to make match-fixing a criminal offence after the Bangladesh Premier League’s governing council recently, on advice of the Integrity Unit, kept nine cricketers out of the BPL auction based on a 900-page report submitted by a three-member investigation committee, the report said.

The BPL Governing Council omitted nine players from this year BPL auction as they were found in the red flag zone due to their activities in the last edition of BPL after BCB formed an investigation committee following a match-fixing scandal that rocked the previous edition of the competition.

In an exclusive chat with Telecom Asia Sport (www.telecomasia.net), Mahin said they are eyeing to sit across the table with concerned authorities to have a law in place so that match fixing can be claimed as a criminal offence.

“What I meant is that in several countries, including Sri Lanka, it has been criminalised. And it has been done very specifically in relation to cricket. They have criminalised it in a way that directly targets cricket,” Mahin told www.telecomasia.net.

“Yes, there will be a specific law that clearly addresses these issues in cricket and other sports, including what happens if someone is involved in fixing or corrupt practices. Yes, it will fall under criminal law, which is a subject of penal law. It will fall under the penal code. Not exactly inside the existing penal code, but there will be a separate law. Like there is a separate Gambling Act, this too can be a separate law. Do you get it? This can be done through an ordinance or through other legal instruments,” he said.

“That would give the whole system a structure. Right now, we are working part by part: for example, the Anti-Corruption Code on one side, and then taking complaints through the Gambling Act on the other. This creates confusion. All of it will come under one single law. And we are working on that,” he added.

Mahin added that they will sit down with the government after the next general election in Bangladesh, scheduled on 12 February 2026, to discuss the matter.

“Yes, through an ordinance, or if Parliament sits in February, they can also insert a clause into an existing law,” said Mahin, who is heading the BCB legal team unit.

“We have been trying to do this(criminalise gambling offence) for a long time. I have personally been working on it, too, because I have a public-interest writ pending. I have challenged online gambling, and in that case, the court has instructed the government to formulate something,” he added.

--IANS

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