Bangladesh Government Orders Suspension of IPL Broadcasts Over Exclusion of Mustafizur Rahman

The Bangladesh government has ordered the suspension of all broadcasts and telecasts of the Indian Premier League (IPL) after star Bangladeshi cricketer Mustafizur Rahman was excluded from the Kolkata Knight Riders squad.

The directive was announced in a notification signed by Firoz Khan, Assistant Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, on Monday.

According to the notification, the decision by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to drop Mustafizur Rahman from the Kolkata Knight Riders for the IPL scheduled to begin on 26 March 2026 has come to the government’s attention. It said no reasonable justification for the decision is known, and the move has left the people of Bangladesh “hurt, distressed, and angry.”

“Until further notice, all broadcasts and telecasts of IPL matches and related programmes are hereby requested to be suspended,” the notification said, adding that the order was issued in the public interest with due approval from the appropriate authorities.

Earlier, on Sunday (4 January), Information and Broadcasting Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan told members of the Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum (BSRF) that a decision on halting IPL broadcasts would be taken after reviewing the legal basis.

The move followed a request from Law Adviser Professor Dr Asif Nazrul, who urged the Information and Broadcasting Adviser to take steps to stop IPL broadcasts in Bangladesh in response to Mustafizur’s exclusion.

Syeda Rizwana Hasan said, “There is no way to remain silent. We have to show a reaction. It would have been better if the game had been kept within the boundaries of sports, but unfortunately politics has been brought into the game.”

She added that after a Bangladeshi player was initially confirmed and later dropped on what media reports described as political grounds, “it naturally hurts the feelings of the people of our country and creates a public reaction.”