Former Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal will not contest in the upcoming Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) elections as he withdrew his nomination paper on Tuesday morning.

He went to the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur around 10:15 am and formally withdrew his nomination, officials confirmed.

As per the election schedule, Tuesday was the last day to withdraw nomination papers, while voting is slated for October 6.

Since Monday, speculation has been rife in the cricket fraternity that several candidates backed by at least 10 to 12 clubs might pull out of the race in protest against alleged government interference. Sources said representatives of the concerned clubs held an emergency meeting on Monday night over the matter.

On Monday afternoon, the High Court also issued an order staying the inclusion of councillors or representatives from 15 controversial clubs in the final voter list. The bench of Justice Khizir Ahmed Chowdhury and Justice Syed Hasan Jubayer passed the order after the initial hearing of a writ petition filed by former BCB president Faruq Ahmed. The court also issued a rule in this regard.

Following the court order, speculations intensified about Tamim’s possible withdrawal.

It is also learnt that a few other candidates may follow suit and withdraw their nominations.

Earlier, on September 21, Tamim had raised allegations of government interference and abuse of power by the BCB president at a press conference. He also claimed that irregularities took place in sending the names of councillors from districts and divisions.