The Bangladesh Cricket Board finally managed to convince the six bickering clubs to end the stalemate in the Dhaka Premier League and resume the Super League from May 31.
The BCB high ups on Tuesday had a successful meeting with representatives from Abahani Limited, Mohammedan Sporting Club, Victoria Sporting Club, Old DOHS, Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club and Gazi Tank Cricketers, who budged from their rigid position and agreed to return to the field.
The BCB cancelled the previous decision of awarding two points to Victoria against Abahani and ordered for a re-match between the two sides which both the clubs agreed to, helping to bring an end to the deadlock.
The league remained suspended since March 28 after Abahani refused to take the field halfway through their match against Victoria alleging their opponents to have fielded an illegal player in Pakistani Mohammad Yousuf.
Mohammedan got them involved in the squabble alleging that they did not issue any clearance to Yousuf and that Victoria have faked the transfer documents to complete the players registration.
Mohammedan demanded exemplary punishment of Victoria official concerned while Abahani said they had to be awarded the points from the match which brought the league to a halt.
The BCB earlier said that they will verify the transfer documents of Yousuf with the help of the Criminal Investigation Department of Police, but they have now soften their position and said that whatever happened they were all a ‘misunderstanding’.
‘What happened was simply a misunderstanding and we don’t want to take the matter any further,’ BCB president AHM Mustafa Kamal told reporters after the meeting with the clubs.
‘We sent the matter to CID, but they said we have to file a case before they start the investigation. We decided to drop the matter here as we don’t want to set any example of dragging cricket this far,’ said Kamal.
‘We also do not have any other mechanism to dig deep into the matter,’ he added.
The BCB refused to take any action against the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis as demanded by Abahani, but said they will look for competent people to run the body in future.
Abahani and Mohammedan representative attending the meeting did not make any comment while Victoria representative said they agreed for the rematch for the greater interest of cricket.
‘We agreed to play for the greater interest of the game,’ said Nesaruddin who represented Victoria in the meeting.
Asked why they decided so late, Nesar said they were not given such offer in the past.
‘In the past BCB held talks with only five clubs. This is the first time BCB called us in a meeting,’ he said.
BCB announced three venues for the remaining matches of the Super League which are Fatullah stadium, BKSP and Shahid Chandu stadium in Bogra.
Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium will not be available as new grass will be laid on the outfield.
-With New Age input
