Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Tamim Iqbal has confirmed that the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) will not be held this year.

Tamim made the announcement on Thursday (August 20) at Mirpur during an event marking the launch of the Game Development Trophy involving Bangladesh’s Under-17, Under-19 and Under-23 teams.

Responding to a question about the BPL, Tamim said the board was working on a new formula for the country’s domestic cricket calendar and would make an official announcement once 60–70 percent of the work was completed.

“We will not hold the BPL this year. We are working on a new formula. Once 60 to 70 percent of the work is completed, we will officially announce how we are restructuring the domestic cricket calendar. It will be quite different and exciting,” Tamim said.

The decision comes despite Tamim’s recent appointment as chairman of the ICC’s newly formed Franchise League Committee. The BPL is Bangladesh’s biggest and most popular franchise-based cricket tournament.

Explaining the decision, Tamim said he had already indicated several times that he did not want the BPL to continue in its existing format.

“There are two or three major issues. First, our main agenda was to complete the election process as quickly as possible,” he said.

Tamim acknowledged that cancelling the tournament would cause financial losses for cricketers.

“If I were a player, I would also be disappointed. I cannot deny that they will suffer financially. But they also understand that this tournament should be something the BCB can be proud of. Can we be proud of what has happened over the last few years? Perhaps not,” he said.

However, Tamim stressed that the BCB is not abandoning the BPL permanently.

“I do not want to rush anything. I want to do the job properly. If it takes six or even 12 months, I am willing to take that time,” he said.

The BCB has already started discussions with the franchises. According to Tamim, issues involving rule violations, defaults, outstanding payments and bank guarantees are being reviewed.

“We have started communicating with the franchises. Issues involving those who have violated rules or defaulted need to be resolved. Outstanding payments and bank guarantee-related problems are being examined step by step. We have not made any official announcement yet,” he said.

Tamim added that his priority is to fix the overall system and make the BCB a profitable organisation.

“My main priority is to fix the entire system so that the BCB can become a profitable organisation,” he said.