Breakdown of cricket ties with Bangladesh raises alarm over India’s Olympic bid | International Olympic Committee & more related news here

Bangladesh’s withdrawal from the men’s T20 World Cup could have implications for India’s 2036 Olympic bid amid concerns from the International Olympic Committee over the possible politicization of the sport.

Bangladesh withdrew from next month’s tournament last weekend after the International Cricket Council rejected a request to move its pool matches from India to co-host Sri Lanka, following a long-running political row sparked by Kolkata Knight Riders’ decision to drop Bangladesh bowler Mustafizur Rahman from its Indian Premier League squad.

Relations between the two countries have worsened significantly over the past month since the death of a Hindu in northern Bangladesh, leading to violent street clashes. Calcutta said they acted on instructions from the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Pakistan is also reported to be considering boycotting the T20 World Cup in an act of solidarity with Bangladesh, with a final decision expected this weekend.

Although the decision to insist that Bangladesh, who have been replaced in the tournament by Scotland, remain in India was taken by the ICC, the BCCI is understood to have pressured the ICC not to allow the change. While the ICC says its government is independent, it has a history of making decisions that favor the BCCI, such as giving India a guaranteed semi-final in Guyana at the T20 World Cup in 2024 for financial and broadcasting reasons.

The BBCI is hugely influential at the ICC level and has close ties to the Indian government. CPI president Jay Shah was BCCI secretary and his father Amit Shah is home minister in the Narendra Modi government.

The ICC’s chief executive is Sanjog Gupta, who was previously executive director of sports and live experiences at JioStar, the media conglomerate that has exclusive television rights in India to all ICC events.

The political dispute has come at a bad time for India, which, after being confirmed last month to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, is bidding to host the 2036 Olympics in Ahmedabad, with Qatar seen as its biggest rival.

However, the IOC’s tolerance for political interference is much lower than that of the ICC, and one source said it is unthinkable that India would be awarded the Games if there was a danger of other countries boycotting as a result.

The Olympic Charter requires that sports organizations must operate independently, controlling their own rules and governance, free from outside political influences, while Rule 50.2 explicitly prohibits the expression of political or religious opinions at the Games.

The IOC’s zero-tolerance approach was most recently illustrated last October when Indonesia was suspended from any talks on hosting future Olympic events as a sanction for refusing to grant visas to the Israeli team for the artistic gymnastics world championships in Jakarta. Indonesia had also been in the race to host 2036 before falling at the first hurdle.

International cricket politics could play a major role in the battle to host the 2036 Olympics, with the sport set to return to the Games for the first time since 1900 in Los Angeles in two years, as well as being on the calendar for Brisbane 2032. Including cricket in the Olympic program is a deliberate attempt by the IOC to court the Indian market, but it will not do so at any cost.

Pakistan’s games in the T20 World Cup will be held in Sri Lanka in retaliation for India’s refusal to play across the border in last year’s Champions Trophy, and the two countries will no longer contest bilateral series.

The IOC source added that India will have to give strong signals of improving its relations with Pakistan and Bangladesh to be considered a credible Olympic host.