The drama over the Independence Cup continues as the Bangladesh Football Federation altered the fixture of the tournament for the third time on Sunday.
BFF deferred the scheduled match between Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club and Mohammedan Sporting Club following the requests from both the participating teams.Jamal asked BFF to defer the game citing sickness of few players but Mohammedan didn’t mention any reason for their request.
Following the requests of both the participating teams, BFF deferred the game just three hours before the kick-off.
BFF declared preliminary fixture of the tournament on March 24 and according to that the tournament was supposed to start on March 30 with the match between Chittagong Abahani and Dhaka Mohammedan Sporting Club.
But due to Arambagh’s late inclusion and a High Court order over eight disputed players, BFF deferred the tournament at least twice.
The tournament finally got underway with the match between Team BJMC and Rahmatganj MFS on April 1.
In the meantime, BFF allowed Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club after they agreed to play in the tournament unconditionally.
Jamal sent a letter to BFF requesting the delay and BFF obliged.
‘Our three or four players are suffering from fever and catarrhal diseases so that we asked BFF to defer the game,’ Jamal official Abdul Gaffar said on Sunday.
Many football organisers labeled the tournament as a farce after BFF’s repeated change of schedule
BFF president Kazi Salahuddin said they made the decision against their will and accepted that events are earning a bad name for local football.
‘After this type of decision, you can use any adjective against BFF and we have nothing to say about that,’ said an annoyed Salahuddin.
BFF said that they have also received a letter from Mohammedan for deferring Sunday’s match.
‘Mohammedan also provided a letter to us citing one day delay,’ BFF general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag said.
‘But they [Mohammedan] didn’t mention any reason for their request.’
Mohammedan team manager Amirul Islam Babu refused to make any comment over the club’s decision.
-With New Age input
