Sports Desk:

Bangladesh Youth and Sports adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain is a busy man. From his busy schedule, Asif made some time to sit with Zaigum Azam at the Bangladesh Secretariat in the capital, and express his observations regarding the present state of sports. Along the way, he also revealed his liking for Tamim Iqbal and his stand for Shakib Al Hasan, whom he did not really like if his previous Facebook post is taken into consideration.

How are you enjoying the new role?

Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain: Actually, it’s not about enjoying. We are given a responsibility. I’m trying to perform my duties.

A new president has been elected for BCB, the board hasn’t been completed yet. How do you want to see the Bangladesh cricket board?

The reformation of BCB is still in process. Since there are a few ICC rules and regulations and the board too has a constitution, the reformation is being done within that legal framework. You’ve already seen the new president coming in along with a new director, Nazmul Abedin Fahim bhai. How the next changes can be made as soon as possible for the reformation within the legal framework are in process. The new BCB president and NSC are looking after this.

Don’t you think it’s time to have a framework for the councilors from those districts or divisions where the league is not held regularly? Maybe their councillorship is lost if the league isn’t held for two years, or four years. Are you thinking of monitoring them?

Right now there are no councilors from any districts or divisions, they have been dissolved. We are planning to make a guideline from NSC, not only for cricket but also for all sports. And if a councilor isn’t active, we are in discussion about what to do. Of course, we will have a performance and progress report for every councilor and whether he stays in his position or not will remain on the performance and progress report. We will take every action from NSC to make sure accountability is there.

People thinking their position is highly respected without doing any job, there are many districts where regular tournaments are not held, we will of course make sure there is accountability of whoever comes in charge.

How careful will you be of ICC’s rules of government interfering in any decision of the board?

There is no guideline regarding any involvement from the government, yes political interference will not be there. You’ve seen, we have started the reformation without any kind of interference through NSC with whatever authority we have. NSC can nominate two directors, that’s what we’ve done. The existing board directors elected the president.

Going forward, will you keep this going?

Since the big decision has been made from within the legal framework. There is no reason the rest will be done otherwise. You know, according to the constitution, if a director is absent in three board meetings his directorship can be cancelled. So everything will move forward according to the constitution. We can’t keep those people who are not here because we have to keep the board running.

Can you please elaborate your view on starting a process where a president cannot be elected for more than two terms?

The democratic way gets hindered when someone is in power for a long time. You will see all over the world that a prime minister or a president can’t come in power for more than two terms, it’s a constitutional rule. We as a nation are expected to make such changes in the constitution. We are thinking of it. We can go with such a decision for the federations and board as well. I have spoken with the directors and the president who are there to review BCB’s constitution. They are working on it. We can provide a guideline for all the federations and boards from NSC so that no one can be elected as president for more than two terms. Of course, we don’t lack qualified people here. In every sport, there are a number of people working honourably without any profit. We can make sure of their participation in the federations then. And the autocratic situation that has risen, can be stopped. I heard there’s someone who has been the Secretary of a federation for 44 years. If we can make a proper guideline and if they are followed even after this government, I hope something good will happen.

Apart from football and cricket, how are the boards and federations in contact with you?

There are 58 federations. A number of them are not that active mainly due to the leadership. Search committee will give us a report on how to make them active again. We will make a decision according to that report. We have a few sports which can bring international glory like archery, hockey, we will put more importance on those. We are interested in working on targeted sports based on which sports will bring us glory according to our genetics. You know we are opening a sports institute. We will find out which sector we need to work on and which things are not in our existing infrastructure once they give us a report. We will try to blend it with technology to work for peak performance development so that we can bring international glory.

You visited BCB once and Tamim was seen with you. There is a buzz in the air that you are very close to Tamim. Is there any chance Tamim will return to cricket?

It was a sudden visit to the BCB and Tamim bhai was there by chance. He along with the BCB CEO showed me around. I’ve spoken to him unofficially regarding a few things. I was a fan of his game, I am a fan of a few others as well. He gave me some advice on cricket and the board from his experience as a cricketer. Regarding his return, you know there was a situation created when he retired. BCB will take a decision on this, maybe based on the World Cup report. Personally I’m talking to a few people, trying to understand their insights, but the decision should be taken maintaining the decorum, I feel. Selection board will do the selection. The prime minister or sports adviser will not select the team. People should work according to their expertise. We have come here challenging the previous political regime where all decisions were taken by a certain (quarter) and someone without any expertise in that area, we will not let that continue anymore.

There are rumours that you don’t like Shakib as a cricketer, how true is that? In your Facebook page you posted your piece of mind earlier that suggests you don’t like him?

My personal opinion is one thing, and my professional decisions are different. I posted on Facebook back in the time as a fan. But where I am right now, I will take my decisions professionally. And there will be no reflections of my personal opinions here. I will make sure of it because personal bias brings the mistakes that we make. I will maintain the highest professionalism here.

Do you personally think that a player should join politics while actively playing the game?

I don’t think they should. And it’s not only politics. There are various advertisements that go against the law and people. They can do business but there should be a guideline on what they can and cannot. There are allegations regarding betting business against some Indian cricketers, and maybe a few Bangladeshi as well. So I think there should be a guideline on this, BCB can fix that. Maybe one can join politics after retiring, but while still playing that should not be the case I think because there can be conflict of interest and lack of professionalism. I have already talked about this.