Football

Defending champions Mohammedan Sporting Club has been placed in a relatively easy group in the Nitol-Tata third National Football League.

The popular Motijheel outfit could not have asked for a better choice of opponents during the official draw that took place at the Conference Room of the National Sports Council yesterday.

Former ace national striker Sheikh Mohammed Aslam surrounded by a host of big-screen actors conducted the draw.

Mohammedan will lead Group A that also features Arambagh Krira Sangha, Moulvibazar Wanderers, Jagarani Club of Jamalpur and Jhenidah Mohammedan Sporting Club.

Mohammedan's bitter rivals and last year's runners-up Abahani will lead the other group in the ten-team final round. Muktijoddha Sangsad Krira Chakra has also been placed in Group B along with Sirajganj Mohammedan SC, Chittagong Mohammedan SC and Bangladesh Army.

Although the draw passed off

peacefully, the audience was taken aback when president of the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) SA Sultan vented his anger against the print media in his introductory speech.

The BFF boss was apparently unhappy the manner in which some newspapers criticised the lavish spending during the SAFF Championship in January.

Questioning the wisdom of the fourth estate Sultan said that one should not write anything without having proper knowledge.

"Some newspapers are writing a lot of things that bears little or no truth. Do not write baseless reports. Maybe some reporters lack proper knowledge," said Sultan in his sweeping speech.

The fired up Sultan upstaged all around him by not allowing even his general secretary Anwarul Huq to speak for once. At one stage he even took the microphone from the chief guest State Minister for Youth and Sports Fazlur Rahman interrupting his speech only to introduce some guests who had just arrived.

The draw ceremony created a chaotic situation, as there were more guests on the dais than it could afford.

Sultan however struck a lucrative three-year deal with Nitol-Tata

despite not confirming that all the final round matches would be telecast live from five different venues across the country.

Nitol-Tata will pay Taka 1.5 crore for the title sponsorship right for the next three years.

Meanwhile, the chairman of Nitol-Tata Group Abdul Matlub Ahmed announced that the winners of the championship would receive an Indica V2 car apart from the cash award of Taka five lakh.

The runners-up will receive three lakh taka while the thirdpaced team will be richer by Taka two lakh.

Besides, all the ten teams in the final round will get Taka 100,000 each as appearance fees.

The first phase of the final round will commence on July 11. Ten teams, split into two groups, will initially compete in the first phase of the final round to be held Chittagong, Sylhet, Barisal, Khulna and Dhaka.

Six teams, three from each group, will advance into the Super Six. They will then split into two groups from where four will battle for the four semifinal slots.

The Super Six will be held in Dhaka, but the venue was yet to be decided.