& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Fixing ghosts return

Sports Reporter
The ongoing Grameenphone Bangladesh League
had been relatively free of match-fixing allegations initially, but since the 18th round it has been marred with the same accusations, tarnishing the league's image heavily.
The fourth edition of the professional football league with comparatively improved standards drew more attention because of fierce competition for the title as race was wide open after the first phase. At the start of the second phase, holders Abahani and leaders Muktijoddha Sangsad lost vital games while star-studded Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club also dropped points.
But the way Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra and Rahmatganj lost to new-
comers Sheikh Jamal, the current league leaders, raised a lot of questions among the spectators who booed Sheikh Jamal off after their 5-2 come-from-behind win against Rahmatganj on Friday.
The match-fixing allegations have dogged local football for a long time but there has hardly been any noticeable effort from Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) to curb this plague. The football's governing body was given notice on many occasions about the allegations and though they pledged verbally to take action, there is no instance from them to punish any club after looking into the matter.
So far they have only requested the police to thwart match-fixing and urged footballers to protest to the club officials. But they have never asked the officials themselves to stop this prac-
tice nor launched any probe committee to investigate the allegations.
"The federation is to blame for the allegations of match-fixing. They never took any initiatives that could make club officials think again, leaving the officials inspired to indulge in this sort of activities year after year," said Muktijoddha coach Maruful Haque, whose side led the points table for most of the season but have been pushed behind by Sheikh Jamal later in the league.
Haque also claimed that his former club Mohammedan, despite losing 10 out of a maximum of 72 points in 2009, could not clinch the professional football league title last season due to this curse.
The table-toppers are not the only guilty party.
Mid-table teams are also blamed of such ill practice as they play a vital role
in facilitating the title aspirants after confirming their own safety from relegation.
These clubs give up matches against the title aspirants allegedly in return for money, pressure from the "higher-level" or to keep good relations among club officials. They even play the vital role in relegating some of the bottom side teams but if these clubs refrained from fixing results, it solves half the problem.
When contacted, Bangladesh League committee chairman Salam Murshedy said that they would soon launch an investigation to look into the allegations over Friday's match.
"We are taking the matter of the Rahmatganj-Sheikh Jamal match seriously and time has come to do something to protect football," said Salam, who is also senior vice president of the football federation.
"After getting nod from the president [Kazi Salahuddin], we will look into the matter through a committee," he added.