The accreditation applications for hundreds of Bangladeshi journalists have been rejected by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after the team had opted out of the T20 World Cup 2026. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had said that about 150 media persons had applied for accreditation, but none received it, according to a Daily Star report.
“As far as I know, all Bangladeshi journalists were rejected. Around 130 to 150 journalists applied this year, but none received accreditation,” the report quoted BCB media committee chairman Amzad Hossain as saying.
The report further added that the applications of some photojournalists were initially accepted but have now been removed.
“I received an approval email from the ICC media department on January 20, which included a visa support letter. But today I received another email saying my application was rejected,” Mir Farid, a photojournalist for Bengali daily Kaler Kantho, said in the report.
“It appears the ICC is unhappy that Bangladesh are not participating and has shut the door on Bangladeshi sports journalists,” Arifur Rahman Babu, the president of the Bangladesh Sports Journalists Association (BSJA), said. “This goes beyond courtesy and professionalism. I think this episode exposed a dark side of the ICC. I will speak with the other two sports journalists’ organisations to explore possible actions. A strong protest letter should be sent to the ICC through the Ministry of Information and the BCB, asking for an explanation. Since Sri Lanka is a co-host, they could have accommodated us there,” he added.
Bangladesh To Not Feature in T20 World Cup 2026
After pacer Mustafizur Rahman was released by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) earlier, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had asked the ICC to change the venues for the matches. Bangladesh were scheduled to play in Kolkata and Mumbai. The ICC rejected Bangladesh’s demand. The BCB was informed that the schedule would not be changed and that they would be required to travel to India. The BCB refused and Scotland replaced them in the tournament.
“Scotland has been called up to take Bangladesh’s place in Group C, joining England, Italy, Nepal and the West Indies,” the ICC later said in its official statement.
“The announcement comes after the ICC, in the absence of any credible or verifiable security threat to the Bangladesh national team in India, rejected BCB’s request to move their matches from India to Sri Lanka, who are co-hosts of the tournament which commences on February 7. Independent security assessments were conducted from internal and external experts.”
Also Read: India vs New Zealand 4th T20I Preview: Date, Venue, Time and Predicted Playing XIs
