The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) T20 Governing Council on Sunday finalized and announced the owners of franchises for the next three editions of the most vigorous domestic event of the country.
The BPL Governing Council requested for Express Of Interest (EOI) for the 9th, 10th & 11th editions of the tournament. A good number of organizations showed interest to own franchise teams. Bangladesh's ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan's business organization Monarch Holdings also submitted their interest.
A Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) investigation found Shakib's Monarch Holdings involved in share price manipulation. Mrs Kazi Sadia Hasan, the Managing Director of Monarch Holdings was fined Tk 95 lakh for violating the Securities and Exchange Commission Act 1969 by manipulating the trade of Dhaka Insurance Limited. Mrs Kazi Sadia Hasan and Associates was also fined Tk 42 lakhs on the same date for manipulating the trade of the shares of Green Delta Insurance Limited.
The company later on, submitted interest to form a franchise under the name of Padma Division and looking forward to organizing a team with Shakib. Soon after the news came in the air, the experts and media became vibrant about the ethical rights of a controversial organization like Monarch Holdings to take part in the BPL.
After detailed evaluation and assessment of the EOI documents submitted by prospective owners, The BPL Governing Council didn't consider their interest as there have some issues associated with the Monarch Holdings.
Beside Monarch, Chattogram Challengers' franchise Akhtar Group did not get a team. The BCB however, allowed Cumilla to play in the tournament even though they applied after the deadline considering their contribution towards making BPL successful.
The owners of the seven teams are Fortune Barishal Sports Ltd (Barishal), Mindtree Limited (Khulna), Progoti Green Auto Rice Mills Ltd (Dhaka), Future Sports Bangladesh Limited (Sylhet), Toggi Sports Limited of Bashundhara Group (Rangpur), Delta Sports Ltd (Chattogram) and Comilla Legends Limited (Cumilla).
The BPL governing council also invited the parties to complete the process of securing Franchise Ownership Rights.
The 9th edition of the BPL will be held between January 5 to February 16 in 2023 while the following year's BPL will start on January 6 with the date slated for the final on February 17. The BPL 2025 is scheduled for January 1 to February 11.
The player draft for the forthcoming edition BPL will be held in the 2nd week of October this year.
