Football fixing now?

As Bangladesh cricket passes through its darkest hour under the cloud of spot and match fixing scandals, Bangladesh football probably just gave birth to its own scandal over yesterday’s Bangladesh Championship League (BCL) match between Victoria SC and Wari Club.   Relegation threatened Victoria Sporting Club beat Wari 1-0, to claim three vital points in a turnaround fixture at the Bangabandhu National Stadium under circumstances that can only be called suspicious at best. It was Victoria’s third victory in the league and the win undeniably boosted their survival chances in the second tier football league.   Wari, who outclassed Victoria 5-0 in the first leg, were totally a different side yesterday and conceded a very late goal when Victoria’s Arif stuck three minutes into injury time at the end of 90 minutes of regulation play. The win went a long way in helping Victoria maintain their position in the league. They now have 14 points from 13 matches, while Wari remained fourth in the tables with 16 points from the same number of games.   Agrani Bank appeared had the most to lose from Victoria’s victory and entered the relegation zone. They were one point above Victoria before the game and were pushed down to second from bottom by the end of the game.     Agrani Bank manager Nofrul Islam Khan said that they knew the match would be fixed and also notified Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF). “There was rumour across the stadium and we knew about this. We were informed that Wari would give away their points. We even informed the BFF before the game,” said Nofrul to Dhaka Tribune over the phone yesterday.    However, BFF general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag said they didn’t receive any complaint from any clubs regarding the allegation. “We didint get any complaint yet but we are well aware of this. We will watch the match highlights to see if there is any evidence of match fixing then we will put it on next league committee meeting,” said Shohag.   Another high official of Agrani Bank who wanted to be anonymous claimed there have been more than one fixed game played in the league this season and also named five clubs Uttar Baridhara Club, Dhaka United SC, Victoria, Wari and Farashganj SC who could be involved in match-fixing throughout the league.    Victoria SC’s football secretary said, “The claims against the game are completely unfounded, we played to the best of our abilities and luck also favoured us.” While Wari Club could not be reached for comment.