'We will not compromise' - Bangladesh sports advisor on refusal to play in India

Asif Nazrul, the Bangladesh government's sports advisor, said on Monday that they would play the ICC T20 World Cup anywhere except India. The announcement came a day after Cricbuzz reported that Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram emerged as options for Bangladesh's World Cup matches following the recent standoff between BCB and BCCI that began after KKR released Mustafizur Rahman due to the political tensions involving the two nations.

"I already said India means India. We are talking about India; we did not say Kolkata. So our position is, if you change it from Kolkata and give another venue - Sri Lanka can be given, no problem," Nazrul told reporters at the Bangladesh Football Federation on Monday.

"I saw in the newspapers, I do not know whether it is true or false, that Pakistan has offered to host our tournaments. Hold it in Pakistan, no problem. Hold it in the United Arab Emirates, no problem," he said.

Nazrul added that an ICC security assessment report suggested problems could arise if they pick Mustafizur Rahman in their squad while their fans cannot roam around wearing their national jersey. "Surely you have come here to know about cricket-related news. In terms of cricket, we have no development. We have sent two letters, and after sending the letters we are awaiting response from the ICC," said Nazrul.

"In the meantime, one thing has happened which I need to inform you about. That is that the ICC's security team - the officials responsible for security - have sent a letter. In that letter, it has been stated that if three things happen, the security risk for the Bangladesh team will increase.

"If Mustafizur is included in the Bangladesh team, if supporters of the Bangladesh team move around wearing Bangladesh's national jersey, which is our national jersey and as the election comes closer, the security risk for the Bangladesh team will allegedly increase," he said.

"So, this statement from the ICC security team has undoubtedly proven that there is no situation whatsoever for the Bangladesh cricket team to play the T20 World Cup in India. If the ICC expects that we will form a cricket team by excluding our best bowler, that our supporters will not be able to wear Bangladesh's jersey, and that we will postpone Bangladesh's election in order to play cricket - then there cannot be any expectation more bizarre, unrealistic, or unreasonable than this. We believe that considering the aggressive communal situation prevailing in India and the anti-Bangladesh environment there, especially the continuous anti-Bangladesh campaign that has been going on for the past 16 months, it has become impossible for Bangladesh to play cricket in India. The Mustafizur episode and, after that, the letter I mentioned to you have undoubtedly proven this," he said.

"We believe no one should have a monopoly over playing cricket. The fate of an entire sport or a tournament cannot be determined on the basis of market management," he said.

"If the ICC truly wants to be a global organization, and if the ICC does not rise and sit at India's command, then we must be given the opportunity to play in the T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka. We will not make any compromise on this issue and when there is no playing environment for one of our team's players, and the national cricket board of India, a national authority, bows its head to these aggressive communal forces and says that he should not be allowed to play here - what bigger proof does the ICC need, I do not understand," he said.

"And the letter from the ICC security team - we will provide you with a copy of that letter at a certain time. This undoubtedly proves that there is no environment for us to play there, no environment to play anywhere in India. Thank you," he added.

However, following Nazrul's claims, Deputy Press Secretary Azad Majumdar cleared the air and confirmed that the sports advisor had made an error and that the threat assessments were not made by the ICC. "The ICC communication cited by the sports advisor today was an inter-departmental note on threat assessments ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup in India, not a response to Bangladesh's request to relocate the matches outside India," Azad wrote on his Facebook page after confusion arose.