Bangladesh board president resigns

Mohammad Ali Asghar has decided to resign from his post as president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), following the government's delay in approving a record television deal. Nimbus Sports International, a Singapore-based television company had paid US$57million for live coverage rights for all matches in Bangladesh until 2012.

Asghar, a Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Member of Parliament from Khulna, said that he couldn't understand the reasons for the delay, especially since the deal had been done in a professional manner. However, the opposition party disagreed, stating that the deal lacked transparency and reportedly demanded his resignation.

"Under the provisions of the agreement, the government was supposed to give its seal of approval within 24 hours,' Asghar told AFP. "But already four days have passed and the government remained silent. I don't know why they are delaying the deal.

"It was done in a very transparent manner. We hired one of the biggest auditing and consultancy firms and the country's biggest law firm to do the negotiations."

Asghar took over as the BCB president in 2001 and also served as the president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) during his tenure.