Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has officially surrendered its fight against the ICC, confirming it will not challenge the decision to replace its national team with Scotland in the 2026 T20 World Cup.
The decision follows weeks of tension after the BCB refused to send its players to India, citing severe security concerns.
Despite an independent assessment by ICC ruling threat level as “low to moderate,” BCB remained firm, leading the global governing body to pull the trigger on their removal.
Final Standdown
In a last-ditch effort on Friday, BCB approached ICC’s independent Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC), hoping for a neutral intervention. However, the DRC clarified that it does not serve as an appellate body for decisions made by ICC Board of Directors.
Reports initially suggested BCB might escalate the matter to Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland, but Board spokesperson Amjad Hossain confirmed on Sunday that the board has decided to “fully respect” and accept the outcome.
“We have accepted the decision of the ICC board. Since the ICC has said that we cannot go and play, or they cannot shift our games to Sri Lanka, in this case, we cannot go and play in India. Our position remains the same. We are not going to any separate arbitration or anything here,” BCB’s media committee chairman Amzad Hossain said.
“After the ICC board meeting, there was a cabinet meeting of the Bangladesh government, and a decision was made there. The decision clearly stated that our team will not be able to go to India. This decision has been communicated by the government. After that, the ICC asked us to reply within 24 hours. We told them politely that it is not possible for us to go and play according to this fixture,” he added.
Massive Financial Crisis
The fallout from this withdrawal is set to trigger a deep financial crisis for Bangladesh cricket. By missing the marquee event, BCB is staring at a staggering loss of approximately $27 million (approx. ₹225 crore).
