BFF demotes two clubs on fixing charges

The Bangladesh Football Federation has demoted Uttar Baridhara and Kawran Bazar Pragati Sangha over fixing charges along with banning several players and officials from the teams.

BFF General Secretary Abu Nayem Sohag informed the news on Thursday after a meeting of BFF’s disciplinary committee.

According to the verdict, Uttar Baridhara, who were relegated from the Bangladesh Premier League last season, have been demoted to the second division, where they will stay for two years.

Kawran Bazar, who played the last season in the Championship, have been demoted to the third division and they will also stay there for two seasons.

Both teams have also been fined Tk 10 lakhs each.

Five players from Uttar Baridhara have been banned, including two foreign players- Uzbekistan’s Dostom Fozilov and Egypt’s Adel Rahim. The local banned players are- Saiful Islam Khan, Arif Khan Joy, and Rashed Hossain Biplob.

Six players from Kawran Bazar have been banned for two years, and three officials – Mizanur Rahman (former manager), Rezaul Haque Jamal (coach), and Sodiqur Rahman (manager) – have been banned for five years.

Apart from them, Saif Sporting Club’s youth team manager Iskandar Mirza has been handed a lifetime ban.

Regarding the sanctions, Sohag said that the decision was made after the fixing identification committee submitted a report.

“The fixing identification committee handed us a confidential report where everything was mentioned. After that, there was a meeting of the disciplinary committee. After reviewing everything, we came to the decision that two teams were involved in live betting or spot-fixing,” the BFF general secretary said.

Among the banned players, Fozilov refuted through a Facebook post saying that he did not commit any kind of fixing.

“Today I saw a post where the Bangladesh Football Federation punished the players and in particular me for fixing the game. I have never played such games, everyone knows who played fixed games in our club.

“I have all the evidence about it. And soon I will publish it all. Corruption in Bangladesh football federation is growing. But I will prove that Bangladesh football federation is covering other people for money (sic),” the Uzbek footballer wrote on a Facebook post.