Bangladesh Football Federation general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag has been banned by Fifa for forgery and falsification of documents submitted to world football's governing body to justify payments made with Fifa funds.
The Adjudicatory Chamber of the Ethics Committee found evidence of corruption during mainly four transactions made in 2019 and 2020, and suspended Shohag from all football activities for two years.
Shohag was first appointed as the acting general secretary of BFF on October 29, 2011.
He has been the general secretary of BFF since January 2013.
Here is the timeline based on a 51-page Decision of the Adjudicatory Chamber of the Ethics Committee published by Fifa on its website:
October 30, 2019 (Transaction 3): Four individuals, including Shohag, approved and ordered the payment to Al Marwah International. In particular, two cheques were issued from the designated Fifa Forward bank account. Moreover, in the scope of the investigation, Shohag stated that “the national teams committee raises requisition for air tickets for the national football team's travel to abroad”.
November 2019 (Transaction 3): BFF paid $199,254 to Al Marwah International for the flight tickets in connection with the BFF national team – World Cup 2022, Oman tour. In this respect, three quotations addressed to Shohag were received from Al Marwah International, Purabi International and Multiplex Travels & Tours.
December 15, 2019 (Transaction 4): The order for the purchasing of goods (lawn mowers) was issued by Shohag.
January 2020 (Transaction 2): BFF purchased 400 footballs for $139,212. In relation to this transaction, three quotations were received from Maria International, M/S H.U Zaman Trading and Ophelia's Closet on December 18 and 19, 2019 respectively. Ophelia's Closet won the bid and the comparative statement was approved by five individuals, including Shohag.
February 10, 2020 (Transaction 4): BFF purchased lawn mowers for $1,412.606. In this respect, two quotations were received from Bangladesh Hardware and Shova Enterprise on December 15, 2019 and Bangladesh Hardware won the tender. BFF issued a cheque from the Fifa designated bank account to Bangladesh Hardware and a few days later, on February 16, 2020, Bangladesh Hardware acknowledged receipt of the payment.
February 12, 2020 (Transaction 2): Four individuals, including Shohag, approved and ordered the final payment to Ophelia's Closet. In the course of the investigation, Shohag provided a document titled “Extract of Bangladesh Premier League Committee on 2/12/2020” signed by him stating “that it is necessary to purchase Fifa approved matchball by BFF to conduct games of Bangladesh Premier league 2019/2020”. Moreover, BFF further explained that this supplier was selected because it is a general one supplying goods like fashion/dress/items and sports goods and could provide the large quantity of footballs with a flexible credit line.
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March 10, 2020: BFF purchased sports wearables and shared with Control Risks two quotations from Spark and Creative Minds. Control Risks visited the addresses mentioned on the quotations but did not find any reference to Spark on site. Moreover, Control Risks noted that both quotations were highly similar, and its research indicated that the firm Creative Minds may not exist.
June 2020 (Transaction 1): The BFF national teams committee decided to purchase sport equipment for the residential camp in Dhaka and matches of the Bangladesh national football team. In this respect, three quotations were received from Sports Link, Sports Corner and Robin Enterprise. Sports Link won the bid and the comparative statement were approved by five individuals, including Shohag, who, in his capacity as general secretary, then ordered the supply of goods in the amount of $300,271.
July 28, 2020: Sports Link provided BFF with a letter confirming that they had delivered the goods.
August 5, 2020: Four individuals, including Shohag, approved and ordered the final payment to Sports Link.
September 23, 2020: External consultant Control Risks concluded (Transaction 1) in its report that all three bidders appeared to be linked to each other and noted that all three documents submitted by the bidders had the same typo “Quotations” and did not include the bidders' stamp. Two quotations had the same suspicious opening statement “we are pleased to inform you that we have supplied you the following items as per your order”, whereas no items had even been ordered.
Control Risks also concluded (Transaction 2) in its report that Ophelia's Closet did not exist on the address provided on the quotation and is involved in tailoring of women's wear. Therefore, it was unlikely that this company could provide the footballs to BFF. Maria International and M/S H.U Zaman Trading's quotations did not provide sufficient identifiers and had no seal of the company. As a result, Control Risks was unable to comment on the existence of these two firms.
Control Risks concluded in its report (Transaction 3) that all three quotations contained several similarities, in particular the same opening statement “we are pleased to submit the following rout air tickets quotations” and contained the same typo (“rout”). Multiplex Travels & Tours is listed in two business Bangladeshi directories as a travel agency but there appeared to be a typo in the name of the supplier on the quotation, the latter being mentioned in it as “(…) & Tourse” (emphasis added). Purabi International is a manpower recruitment agency, so it appeared unlikely that said entity would have been requested to provide a quotation for air tickets. The body text of the quotations is identical, the quotations have the same numbering error (“1, 3, 4”) and were issued on the same date and follow the same layout. Therefore, due to these unusual similarities, it was unlikely that Multiplex Travels & Tours and Purabi International have actually sent the quotations.
Control Risks concluded in its report (Transaction 4) that BFF provided Control Risks' auditors with three undated quotations. The one of Bangladesh Hardware had a typo in its name “Bangladesh Hardwar”, with a slightly different address. The quotations of Shova Enterprise and Sharmin Enterprise had several similarities and the same imagery.
October 28, 2020: The Fifa Compliance Subdivision informed the Investigatory Chamber that the external consultant Control Risks Group Limited (Control Risks) had identified in its report dated September 23, 2020 several issues in regard to the bidding procedures at BFF. In addition, the Fifa Compliance Subdivision advised that, due to the findings of this report, it had requested a forensic review at the BFF´s premises to be conducted by the audit firm BDO LLP (BDO).
March 5, 2021: The audit firm BDO issued its forensic report (Transaction 1) on the use of funds by BFF covering the period of January 1, 2017 to September 30, 2020. BDO noted in its report that all three quotations had the same layout/structure with the same format and located signature space. All quotations misspelled “Outations”. Robin Enterprise's quotation included a mobile phone number without any connection to the company. Sports Corner and Sports Link have their business premises located next to each other. The owner of Sports Link, Robin, appeared to be a former employer of Sports Corner.
BDO also noted in its report (Transaction 2) that in the procurement process, BFF should take into account the experience of the supplier. Ophelia's Closet being a fashion supplier, BDO concluded that this supplier appeared to have no experience in supplying footballs. In addition, this supplier did not have an import licence and used the one of “a friend”, as explained by the supplier. No invoice was received from Ophelia's Closet, but BFF made the payment to the supplier.
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BDO noted in its report (Transaction 3) that both Purabi International and Multiplex Travels & Tours confirmed that they have not provided any quotations to BFF nor performed services for the said association. Purabi International confirmed that it is a recruitment company. All three quotations had the same table structures, date and referencing format.
BDO noted in its report (Transaction 4) that when it contacted Sharmin Enterprise, the person on the phone responded as Shova Enterprise while Bangladesh Hardware could not be reached.
March 22, 2021: The Investigatory Chamber started exchanging several communications with Shohag, who, inter alia, was requested to provide his written positions in relation to the allegations levelled against him but also to clarify the amounts and rationale behind several problematic transactions made by BFF with Fifa funds.
April 28, 2022: In view of the above and the documentation collected throughout the preliminary investigation, Martin Ngoga, Chairperson of the Investigatory Chamber, determined that there was a prima facie case that Shohag had committed violations of the Fifa Code of Ethics, 2020 edition (FCE). Accordingly, the latter was informed of the opening of formal investigation proceedings against him for potential breaches of arts. 13 (general duties), 17 (duty to report), 24 (forgery and falsification), 25 (abuse of position) and 28 (misappropriation and misuse of funds) of the FCE. Ngoga designated John Tougon to lead the proceedings against Shohag as Chief of Investigation in accordance with art. 63 FCE.
June 17, 2022: Shohag submitted his position to the Investigatory Chamber.
September 2, 2022: The Investigatory Chamber engaged with an expert “in graphitics, documents copy and documentary forgery” to provide his expertise on the authenticity of several documents, including the quotations received by BFF during the procurement process.
September 19, 2022: Medina Casado (the Expert) submitted his expert opinion to the Investigatory Chamber. Finally, the Expert concluded in his report (Transaction 1) that the signatures of the “proprietor” on the documents submitted by Sports Link, i.e., the “quotation” dated July 18, 2020 and the “confirmation of delivery” dated July 28, 2020, “do not follow the same course (…)”. The three quotations “are made by the same employer or template, indicating that they have not been made by different companies.”
The Expert also concluded (Transaction 2) that the quotations were all made up of table and had some overlapping elements; and the quotation belonging to Maria International and M/S H.U. Zaman Trading had signatures made on a photocopy and not on the original document.
The Expert concluded in his report (Transaction 3) that the tables on the quotations were made up of the same size and fully coincident in their base content. Moreover, the sentence with the same typo was present on all three quotations. “[T]he doubtful documents (…) are made by the same pattern or template, being made by the same company and not different.”
The Expert concluded in his report (Transaction 4) that the quotations contained a table filled by hand and all quotations had the same background. Shova Enterprise and Sharmin Enterprise have a very similar structure in typography, size and style, so that these documents “are made by the same template, the same origin, and not from different companies.” There were discrepancies in the signatures on the documents submitted by Bangladesh Hardware, i.e., the quotation and the acknowledge receipt letters.
October 26, 2022: The investigation proceedings were closed and the final report on the investigations (the Final Report) was transmitted to the Adjudicatory Chamber.
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November 1, 2022: Shohag was informed that the Adjudicatory Chamber had opened adjudicatory proceedings against him based on the Final Report as per art. 68 FCE, and of his right to request a hearing. In these circumstances, Shohag was provided with a copy of the Final Report – along with the entire case file – and was requested to submit a written position.
November 8, 2022: Shohag requested a hearing to be held and an extension of the deadline to provide his (written) position.
November 10, 2022: Shohag was – on behalf of the Chairperson of the Adjudicatory Chamber – informed that his request for a hearing had been granted and invited to submit his position by December 21, 2022 at the latest.
December 12, 2022: Shohag requested another extension of the deadline to provide his position and to be granted access to the full case file.
December 13, 2022: The Secretariat to the Adjudicatory Chamber (the Secretariat) provided the relevant case file to the accused and further informed the latter that his position should be submitted by January 16, 2023 at the latest.
January 9, 2023: The Secretariat informed Shohag that the hearing would take place on January 26, 2023. However, this hearing had to be postponed due to the visa requirements for the accused (and his counsel(s) and witness(es)) to travel to Switzerland.
January 16, 2023: Shohag submitted his position in relation to the present case.
January 18, 2023: The parties were informed that the hearing would take place on February 16, 2023 at the Home of Fifa in Zurich. In addition, the parties were requested to provide the final list of all individuals who would be accompanying them at the upcoming hearing. Said information were received from both parties.
February 2, 2023: The Secretariat informed the parties of the relevant participants to the hearing as well as the provisional schedule of the hearing. Organizational information regarding the hearing were also provided.
February 16, 2023: A hearing was held at the Home of Fifa in Zurich in the presence of the Adjudicatory Chamber chairperson Vassilios Skouris.
April 14, 2023: The Adjudicatory Chamber has decided that Shohag is found responsible for having breached art. 13 (general duties), art. 15 (duty of loyalty) and art. 24 (forgery and falsification) of the Fifa Code of Ethics, in relation to the use of false and/or falsified documents to justify payments made with Fifa funds, whilst serving as general secretary of BFF. Shohag is hereby banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity at national and international level (administrative, sports or any other) for a duration of two (2) years, as from the notification of the present decision. Shohag is ordered to pay a fine to the amount of 10,000 Swiss Francs (approximately Tk12 lakhs). The fine is to be paid within 30 days of notification of the present decision.
