Newly-crowned Premier Hockey League champions Mariner Young’s Club on Friday apologised for their misdemeanour during the title deciding match against Usha Krira Chakra on July 1.
Mariners beat Usha by 3-2 goals to claim their maiden title but the success was overshadowed by frenetic behaviour of some of its officials and fans, who allegedly vandalised the VIP box of the Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium.
Bangladesh Hockey Federation vowed to take tough action against the vandalism, prompting the club to realise their mistake and issue an unconditional apology on Friday through a press conference.
Mariners also alleged that a vested group is active to use this opportunity to hatch a conspiracy against the club. The club also accused a former player of Mohammedan Sporting Club for provoking the incident.
‘We feel ashamed for damaging the property of the federation, which had no involvement in the matter,’ the club said in a written statement read out by its vice-president Alamgir Kabir.
‘We acted out of our conscience to repair the damaged property. But unfortunately due to this incident we could not enjoy our first title in 27 years. It left us feeling ashamed.
‘We regret this unwanted incident and already apologised to the federation president. We again apologise if anyone feels offended by the behaviour of our fans on that day,’ said the club.
Mariners’ apology came two days before the governing body meeting of the Bangladesh Hockey Federation, who is planning to take action against the club.
Meanwhile, Mohammedan Sporting Club sent a letter to BHF seeking punishment of Mariners for assaulting its former player Shafiqul Islam Litu during the incident.
Mariners general secretary Hasan Ullah Khan Rana, who was allegedly involved in the incident, said the he has apologized to Litu.
-With New Age input
