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Mustafa Kamal has decided to quit as the President of International Cricket Council (ICC) in the wake of the Cricket World Cup trophy handing over controversy between him and the ICC. While addressing journalists Kamal made it clear that he is not happy with the chains of events that happened just prior to the World Cup final at Melbourne.
However ICC has denied receiving Kamal's resignation.
"My resignation is ready. It will be sent to ICC. From now on I'm not the present ICC President but a former ICC President," Kamal went on to add.
Taking a dig at the ICC, Kamal also stated, "It's not possible for me to work with those who work unconstitutionally."
"I am just sending my resignation to the ICC...I was not allowed to work in line with the ICC constitution and I cannot work with them beyond the ICC constitution," he told a crowded press conference at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Tuesday.
"These type of people should be away from cricket, these kind of people are polluting the game. Otherwise cricket will be spoilt. It is my earnest request to the ICC to revisit these things and people should research why I have resigned," he added.
"I was not allowed to hand over the trophy. I couldn't sleep the night before because, I represent my country. My right was snatched away," he said.
According to an amendment in the memorandum and articles of association of the ICC which was unanimously approved by Full Council in January 2015, it appeared that the job of handing over of trophies at global events rests on the ICC president.
According to clause 3.3 (B): "With effect from the 2014 Conference Close Date, the President shall act solely as chairman at Conference and Special Meetings and be responsible for presenting trophies at global competitions and cricket events held under the aegis of the Council. For the avoidance of doubt, with effect from the 2014 Conference Close Date, the President will no longer act as chairman of the Executive Board or as chairman of any Committee or Sub-Committee."
He has had other differences with the ICC during the World Cup as well, notably the no-ball called on Rohit Sharma in the India-Bangladesh quarter-final. Claiming to speak as a fan, Kamal, a former president of Bangladesh Cricket Board, had said that the on-field umpiring during the quarter-final clash in Melbourne, which his country lost by 109 runs, was "very poor".
Besides strong criticism of the umpiring decision from Kamal, the controversy led to protests erupting in Bangladesh with fans voicing their displeasure and even burning umpires Aleem Dar's effigy. BCB also said it will protest the umpiring in its report to the ICC.
Kamal had said that the matter needs to be looked into.
"From what I have seen, the umpiring was very poor. There was no quality in the umpiring. It seemed as if they had gone into the match with something in mind. I am speaking as a fan, not as the ICC president," Kamal said.
"Umpires may make mistakes. The ICC will see if this was done deliberately. Everything is on record. The ICC has to investigate and inquire the issue to see if there's anything to it."
Then after the final, Srinivasan handed over the cricket World Cup trophy to captain Michael Clarke. Srinivasan did the trophy honours in a departure from the International Cricket Council's (ICC) rules which empower the president to hand over the trophy to the winning captain.
Srinivasan reportedly wasn't one bit amused after hearing Kamal's comments on record. While the former BCCI president didn't say anything in public, he did express his displeasure to the board members and questioned as to how can Kamal pinpoint on one wrong umpiring decision and take it as an isolated case.
Kamal, on Sunday, reportedly didn't sit in the ICC Hospitality Box and after talking to elite group of people in Bangladesh government (he is a union minister also), Kamal decided to leave the venue as he felt that it was an insult to his position.
