Bangladesh Journalists Allege They’ve Been Denied Media Access For T20 World Cup 2026

Dhaka, Jan 27: The ICC’s decision to replace Bangladesh with Scotland in the T20 World Cup 2026 hasn’t ended the controversy. Multiple Bangladeshi media outlets have reported that the sport’s top governing body has now decided to reject the accreditation applications of their journalists. With Bangladesh publicly taking a stand against the ICC’s decision not to shift their T20 World Cup matches to Sri Lanka, their journalists have reportedly been ‘barred’ from fulfilling media responsibilities at the tournament, which is due to be held in India and Sri Lanka from 7 February.

According to The Daily Star, BCB media committee chairman Amzad Hossain confirmed the development, claiming that between 130 and 150 journalists from Bangladesh had applied for accreditation for the T20 World Cup 2026. According to his understanding, all of them have been denied accreditation by the ICC.

“As far as I know, all Bangladeshi journalists were rejected. Around 130 to 150 journalists applied this year, but none received accreditation,” Amzad said.

The report further claimed that some photojournalists, who received approval on 20 and 21 January, have now had their accreditations revoked.

“I received an approval email from the ICC media department on 20 January, which included a visa support letter. But today I received another email saying my application was rejected,” the report quoted a journalist, Mir Farid, as saying.

Bangladesh has been a part of ICC events since 1999, but its journalists have reportedly been covering such tournaments since before then. Bangladeshi journalist Arifur Rahman Babu, who covered the 1996 World Cup, claimed that he has also been denied accreditation.

“Even if a team is not playing, journalists from an ICC Associate Member nation can still receive accreditation. I find no reason why everyone was rejected. I am surprised, and I strongly condemn and protest this decision,” said Arifur.

Arifur, who is also the president of the Bangladesh Sports Journalists Association (BSJA), said that he plans to speak to the Bangladesh Sports Press Association (BSPA) and the Bangladesh Sports Journalists Community (BSJC) before deciding on the next course of action.

The ICC media department has not yet shared its version of the story.