Bangladesh generates more revenue than many other nations: BCB President

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is at a happy place at the moment. They are very content with the outcomes of the recent ICC meeting. All the major cricket boards met recently under one roof to discuss the revenue models of the ICC. After the meeting, the BCB finds itself in a position of getting more share of revenues because of improved performances and improved markets

The board President Nazmul Hassan spoke at length about the various prospects of the meeting in a media address recently. He remarked that there was a stereotype revolving around the cricket world that Bangladesh is incapable of generating more revenues. After reevaluation, all those claims came to a standstill. Now, a new perspective about the Bangladesh cricket stands in place.

“There used to be a notion that Bangladesh doesn’t generate any revenue, that the market here is weak. But I think Bangladesh generates more revenue than many nations. Bangladeshi companies are sponsoring our away tours. The market here has changed. I asked them to reevaluate our situation, because now there’s a new perspective about Bangladesh,” quoted Nazmul Hassan as per the quotes in ESPNcricinfo.

As per the previous revenue model, Bangladesh’s share of revenue was a mere $76 Million. However, now they are set to get $132 Million as per the new revenue model generated by the ICC. The way the amount has almost doubled is a bright news for the country.

“We used to get $76 million but now are going to get $132 million [during the eight-year cycle]. This means while we used to get $9.5 million per year, the amount will be $16.5 million per year. It is almost double, a big boon for Bangladesh,” he noted.

Adding further, he stressed on the fact that Bangladesh has been generating more revenues compared to all other countries barring India in the subcontinent. Hassan pointed out that they spoke in the favor of the new financial model that sees an equitable distribution of funds.

“Bangladesh deserved to get more [revenue] than West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka whichever criteria is being considered. Performance is not the only factor. My first objective was to increase Bangladesh’s share. We agreed on the financial model that not just Bangladesh, everyone else should get more money,” quoted the BCB President.

Perhaps the only board that was unhappy with the new financial model was the BCCI. As per the previous system, the BCCI fetched the largest share of the pie. Now, their share has almost halved. This has not gone down with the Indian board. BCB President remarked that they are willing to extend full support to the BCCI as the cause of BCCI is only regarding their own finances and not of the other countries.

“India’s concern is only with the finances. We support them for everything. I spoke to the BCCI, and assured them of our support in everything. But I cannot support Bangladesh getting less money. I personally believe that the BCCI is against this model. They have no problem with the amount we are getting, but they are trying to come up with a new formula,” he conceded.

Talking about the entire scuffle that is going on in Indian cricket administration at the moment, Hassan cited that it is the ego and interim developments that is causing a lot of confusion. There is no synchronization between the newly appointed officials. However, he hopes that things will fall into place sometime soon for the BCCI.

“I think it is more of an ego issue. They have an interim board running at the moment. They have different people coming to the ICC meeting. We saw someone in the last meeting who was appointed by their Supreme Court, and this time we saw someone else, BCCI’s joint secretary. There’s no continuity, and it is hard to deal with a new person every few months. If someone comes to the ICC meeting and agrees with us, he will be blamed for agreeing to a lesser amount. So I don’t think anyone wants to take this responsibility. I am hopeful that soon, we will be able to come to an agreement,” he conceded further.