The Appellate Division’s Chamber Judge has stayed a previous High Court order that required SQ Sports, the owner of Chattogram Kings, to be included in the BPL.
The stay order was issued on Sunday afternoon after a hearing. Barrister Mahin Rahman, legal counsel for the BCB, stated that as a result of this order, there is no longer any legal obligation to include Chattogram Kings in the BPL. He also emphasized that SQ Sports must comply with BCB’s established rules if they wish to participate in the league.
The legal dispute began over the process of finalizing franchise ownership for the upcoming BPL season. Recently, the BCB invited applications for franchises for a five-year period. On October 30, 9 out of 11 interested companies were invited to a meeting, but SQ Sports, which had applied for Chattogram Kings, was not called.
In response, SQ Sports filed a contempt of court petition against the BCB, claiming that the board had ignored the ongoing legal process and defied the court order.
The BCB had stated that SQ Sports was not invited to the meeting because they had not submitted a pay order of 20 million Taka as franchise fees. However, Chattogram Kings called this explanation “contrary to reality” and said that, according to discussions with BPL Governing Council member Iftikhar Rahman, they would deposit the new franchise fee after resolving the previous dispute.
It is notable that Chattogram Kings, who participated in the first two BPL seasons, had a previous dispute with the BCB over outstanding payments. At that time, the BCB had to settle players’ dues, which, including interest, now amounts to around 460 million Taka, according to the BCB.