Arafat Rahman

Life & Legacy

Arafat Rahman, nicknamed "Koko" (12 August 1969 – 24 January 2015) was a Bangladeshi cricket organizer and former chairman of the Development Committee of the Bangladesh Cricket Board. He was the younger son of former president of Bangladesh Ziaur Rahman and former prime minister of Bangladesh Khaleda Zia. His elder brother is Tarique Rahman, the current chairman of the BNP and the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
Rahman is widely remembered for his contributions to cricket in Bangladesh as the chairman of the Development Committee of the Bangladesh Cricket Board from 2002 to 2005. He played a significant role in designing a development programme for the Bangladesh Cricket Board, initiating the High-Performance Squad that worked to train young cricketers and sought to ensure a pipeline of talent for the national cricket team over the following decade.
Rahman came to face significant legal trouble in his later life, as he was exiled by the caretaker government of 2007–08 and faced a six-year jail sentence for an alleged money laundering case. Rahman would later flee Bangladesh to avoid further imprisonment until his death.
On 24 January 2015, Rahman died due to cardiac arrest while at the University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.