Agence France Presse
Melbourne, Feb 24: The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) rubbished media reports back home that seamer Al-Amin Hossain had been kicked out of the World Cup for reportedly confessing to meeting an illegal Indian bookmaker.
The official statement issued Sunday by the team management had said Hossain, 25, was being sent home for breaking curfew rules ahead of Bangladesh’s washed-out match against Australia in Brisbane last weekend.
But the Dhaka-based ‘New Age’ newspaper and other media said Hossain had been under observation by the International Cricket Council’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) for some time.
However, BCB head of media, Jalal Yunus, insisted the only charge of indiscipline against Hossain was staying out late at night and had nothing to do with any alleged corruption.
“The ACSU has told us they have nothing against Hossain, but we took action because we have a no-tolerance policy for not obeying team orders,” Yunus stated here Tuesday. “There is no truth in reports that he was sent home because of alleged links with bookies.”
Media reports said the ACSU had already spoken to Hossain a few days earlier in Canberra when the team was in the Australian capital for their opening match against Afghanistan.
The ‘New Age’ quoted an unnamed official as saying that Hossain gave three different versions regarding his late-night outing when questioned by team management. “He first claimed that he went to buy a SIM card, which raised suspicions as the player had already one with him,” the paper said.
“Al-Amin then claimed that he went to a nightclub but BCB officials were not ready to accept this story either because they found it hard to believe that he will visit a nightclub alone in bad weather,” it added.
“In the face of repeated questioning he finally confessed that he went to meet a bookie who dropped him close to the hotel and the decision to send him back was taken immediately,” the paper further stated.
The paper quoted team manager Khaled Mahmud as saying that Hossain had confessed to his misdemeanour, but did not elaborate.
