Photo Credit: Facebook Profile Photo of Shakib Al Hasan
Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafe Mortaza are well-known Bangladeshi cricketers who entered politics while still active in the sport.
Bangladesh’s Youth and Sports Adviser, Asif Mahmud, stated that cricketers should focus on one area at a time, as balancing both politics and sports can affect their concentration and performance.
“I don’t think they should [play and do politics together]. 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,” Mehmud said.
He also mentioned that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) should set guidelines for players’ involvement in business and sponsorships to ensure they comply with legal and ethical standards.
“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 [endorsements] 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,” he added.
“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,” Mehmud further stated.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Stay ahead of the latest cricket industry trends by subscribing to our free cricexc “daily briefing” newsletter.
