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Former Bangladesh batter and interim Bangladesh Cricket Board President Tamim Iqbal stated that he might scrap the Bangladesh Premier League in its current form if his role became permanent.

Over the years, the BPL has been marred by controversies ranging from allegations of match-fixing to non-payment of player and staff salaries. Despite beginning in 2012, the BPL has never managed a permanent identity, with team owners changing hands like hot potatoes. Recently, a player and four team officials were suspended for breaching the anti-corruption code in the latest edition of the league. Now, even more people have been charged by the BCB with breaching the anti-corruption code after the betting scandal that broke the BPL in December. "If necessary, we will not do BPL" - Tamim Iqbal "We will not do BPL for the sake of BPL and if necessary, we will not do BPL," Tamim Iqbal said, as quoted by Cricbuzz. "I think BPL is a fantastic product. We can achieve a lot from here. But probably we can't do it." "If I think that our thinking or our ideas are not enough to make this successful, there are always ways to get help internationally. There are agencies there who look after these things. If, as individuals, we think that we are not doing a fair job, we will try and get help."

"In 14 years, the issue of non-payment has come up 14 times" - Tamim Iqbal Tamim Iqbal went on to talk about the issues that currently seem to be plaguing the BPL, particularly non-payment of player salaries. "I personally am a very big believer in BPL. I think BPL should be regular and should be done in the right way, but the problem is selection of the franchise," he said. "That is the biggest challenge, the biggest problem because if your franchise is right, if they are financially solvent and if there are no payment issues, most of the problems are solved. In 14 years, this one topic - payment issues - has come up 14 times. Not getting money, not giving money, this is a major topic. "Of course, there are many more things to it, but the best way to fix this thing is to get the right franchises and it is not easy, rather difficult, to do. But the position we have taken from our place is our responsibility, it is our job to bring in the best possible franchises. So we will try to do that," he added.

  "I am open to bringing foreign investors" - Tamim Iqbal Tamim added that he will also consider the proposition of approaching foreign investors to own teams in the BPL. "I am a big believer in that (bringing in foreign investors), but it has to be reputed foreign investors. If we can convince franchises from successful leagues worldwide to come to Bangladesh, that would be a great step forward. Of course, first we approach our own domestic corporates and then successful foreign franchise owners from other leagues. When teams like that come in, the value of the league automatically grows," he said. "Bangladesh is actually a very cheap market compared to others. Even running a full franchise here costs significantly less than in other leagues. If done right, I genuinely think this can be profitable for everyone. Nowadays some corporate houses are buying franchises in a lot of tournaments," he said.