A file photo shows the front gates of Mohammedan Sporting Club and Arambagh Krira Sangha. — New Age photos
The ongoing drive against casino and gambling in sports clubs hit Mohammedan Sporting Club and Arambagh Krira Sangha hard, leaving them uncertain in the forthcoming edition of Bangladesh Premier League football, officials said on Wednesday.
The players’ transfer of the next edition’s 13-team professional league will begin on October 1 with the league scheduled from January.
Arambagh finished fifth while Mohammedan ended ninth in the last edition of BPL that ended on August 8.
Arambagh president AKM Mominul Haque Shaeed, one of the key accused of running casino in his club, told New Age from Singapore that they might not be able to form the team for the next edition as their major source of income is now closed.
‘I don’t think we will be able to participate in the players’ transfer to form a team for the next season of BPL,’ said Shaeed.
‘We used to get taka 40 thousand as rent from indoor games each day. That was our main source of income. We tried to have sponsors for football from the last five years, but no one came forward,’ Shaeed said, without revealing the name of their tenants.
Shaeed, also the general secretary of Bangladesh Hockey Federation, travelled to Singapore with the Bangladesh Under-21 women’s hockey team and later extended his stay to facilitate the treatment of his ailing son before his name came in the casino scandal.
Shaeed said his return is uncertain before players’ transfer begins.
Mohammedan Sporting Club director in-charge Lokman Hossain Bhuiyan expressed similar doubt about his club.
‘I tell you clearly that I am in doubt whether Mohammedan would join the transfer process. I also doubt if Mohammedan can participate in the league,’ he said.
Lokman admitted due to the criticism they are facing it will affect the club adversely.
‘Earlier we went to the sponsors freely and could force them thanks to relationships. But I doubt if anyone will give us any money now because of so much criticism,’ he said.
Mohammedan’s football team manager Amirul Islam Babu was unwilling to make any comment on this issue.
Law enforcers also raided BPL club Muktijoddha Sangsad KC to discover a casino but no official of the club was available for comment.
Another BPL club Chittagong Abahani, which was also raided by the law enforces, said it should not face any problem due to the anti-gambling drive.
Chittagong Abahani team manager and football committee secretary Shakil Mahmud Chowdhury said they are trying to form a strong team for the next season.
‘The raid in the club will not hamper our activities. The base of our team is in Dhaka’s Segun Bagicha, where no outsider is allowed. So, what happened in Chattogram is not our headache,’ he said.
‘It’s is a concern of the people, who are in Chattogram and responsible for gambling. We were not aware of what was happening in Chattogram. I visited there maximum two to three times in the last couple of years,’ he added.
Shakil said Saif Powertec Limited managing director Tarafder Ruhul Amin finances the club’s football team so they don’t require the money from gambling.
‘He [Amin] is our football committee chairman and I am the secretary, we control and maintain everything about our team,’ he said.
The football transfer window will close on November 20.
Source: New Age.
