The government of Bangladesh has banned broadcasters in the country from airing the prestigious Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket tournament, as tensions between the two neighboring countries escalate.
This, according to media reports, represents the first time the country's government has gone as far as to ban the broadcasting of a non-domestic cricket property.
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Recent days have also seen the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) state that the country's national team will not be traveling to India for the next edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, which is due to take place in that country between February 7 and March 8.
The BCB held an emergency meeting over the weekend, following an IPL franchise – the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) – releasing one of Bangladesh's key players, Mustafizur Rahman, following a rise in geopolitical tensions between the two countries' governments.
Now, the BCB has said that its national team "will not travel to India for the tournament under the current conditions," and that it considers this step necessary "for the safety and well-being of Bangladeshi players, team officials, board members, and other stakeholders."
This adds an extra layer of complexity to the organization of the World Cup, with Pakistan already set to play all their matches outside India, in this case, in Sri Lanka, because of the ongoing India-Pakistan tensions.
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By GlobalDataRahman had his contract withdrawn by KKR without any specific reason being publicly given, although Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Devajit Saikia did reference "recent developments."
Regarding the Bangladeshi government's decision to ban IPL coverage in the country, meanwhile, the country's ministry of information and broadcasting said that the decision by KKR to terminate Rahman's contract had "caused distress among the people of Bangladesh."
A statement added that the decision was "in public interest," and that "no reason was communicated for the decision behind Mustafizur Rahman's exclusion."
Bangladeshi media networks and broadcasters have covered every edition of the IPL since that 10-team league launched in 2008.
Last season, the league was shown in Bangladesh by pay-TV's T-Sports.
