Bangladesh government takes massive call on broadcast ban ahead of IPL 2026 opener

Bangladesh has cleared the way for the Indian Premier League (IPL) to be broadcast in the country. Newly appointed Information and Broadcasting Minister Zahir Uddin Swapan confirmed that there are no restrictions on airing the tournament.

Bangladesh allows IPL broadcast

In a significant shift, Swapan said the government does not want to mix politics with sports and will instead consider IPL telecasts from a commercial perspective.

“No one applied to us to telecast the IPL. We don't want to mix politics with sport. We will look at it from a commercial perspective, and if any channel applies to telecast the IPL, we will consider it positively,” he told Deutsche Welle.

Swapan added that international sports networks, including Star Sports, are free to broadcast the IPL in Bangladesh.

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“We will not bar anyone from telecasting it. If Star Sports wants to telecast the IPL, they can. If any of our channels want to telecast it, we will take it positively, but we will not force anything,” he said.

The clarification comes after an earlier ban imposed by the previous interim government, which had stopped IPL telecasts in Bangladesh and created confusion among broadcasters and cable operators ahead of the tournament.

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The Cable Operators Association of Bangladesh has also welcomed the development. Its office secretary, Rezaul Karim Lablu, said operators will not block any IPL broadcast in the absence of official orders.

“If Star Sports telecasts the IPL in Bangladesh, they can do it because no one has asked us to stop it. Those directives of the interim government do not have any value. If this government asks us to stop it, we will do so, because the previous government's directives are no longer in place,” he explained.

Why did Bangladesh ban IPL 2026 broadcasting?

The original ban had been imposed after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) asked Kolkata Knight Riders to terminate the contract of Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman for IPL 2026, following tensions after the killing of Hindus in Bangladesh.

With the new stance, broadcasters and cable operators in Bangladesh are free to air IPL matches, signalling a more open and commercial approach to sports telecasts. Coming back to the IPL 2026, defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will face Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the tournament opener at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.