Farcical final

Bangladesh Hockey Federation president Air Marshal SM Ziaur Rahman (R) tries to convince Mohammedan official Sajed AA Adel (L) for his side to take the field as the final of the Dhaka Bank Club Cup hockey tournament was delayed at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium yesterday. PHOTO: Banglarchokh

Bangladesh's crippling hockey saw an unprecedented incident yesterday, centring on fielding an unregistered foreign player in the final of the Dhaka Bank Club Cup Hockey tournament at the Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium.
The final between Moham- medan Sporting Club and Usha Krira Chakra started nearly 80 minutes late and ended in a way that defied the rules and regulation of the game as the umpires blew the whistle 20 minutes into the second half, 15 minutes before the scheduled end with Mohammedan leading Usha 4-2 at that stage.
Usha at the point refused to play on citing the rapidly declining light. Moham- medan was awarded the trophy but Usha declined to receive the runners-up trophy.
Questions about the status of the game was raised after the ridiculous ending with Bangladesh Hockey Federa- tion general secretary Khondoker Jamil Uddin calling it 'unfinished' and 'an injustice'.
"It was no match and an injustice to Usha Krira Chakra. It was an unfinished game and the only reason the match went ahead was because the chief guest (Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith) was present," said Jamil.
"In the true sense, Moham medan are not the champions. I thank Usha for their cooperation and spirit," said the general secretary.
The match was only the tip of the iceberg as the events preceding it only added to the sense of farce surrounding it.
The chaos started when Mohammedan brought Malaysian forward Chua Boon for the Club Cup final.
He arrived in the capital early on Friday morning, though the Black and Whites' team management did not officially inform the tournament committee. Usha officials verbally let the tournament committee know that they had serious objections if Mohammedan fielded an unregistered foreign player in the final.
It all boiled over half-an-hour before the start of the scheduled match at 4:00pm when Mohammedan attemp-ted to play the Malaysian inthe final citing the tournament committee's verbal assurance. They claimed that the committee had no problem to allow their foreign recruit to play the game.
But, tournament and league committee secretary Anvir Adel had declined to let Mohammedan's foreign player play as the Usha officials asked the committee to follow the by-laws which states that each team will be able to field five foreign players in a match but they must be registered by 8:00pm the day before the match along with Tk 500 as registration fee.
The Motijheel giants then argued that they were not given the by-laws, which was not even approved by the tournament committee, and they looked determined to play with their Malaysian recruit.
"As an experienced organiser, I have brought the Malaysian player knowing the rules of the tournament and would not bring him if I was not aware of the rules," Mohammedan hockey committee secretary Sajed AA Adel said.
"By-laws of the tournament was not even approved," added Adel, also a former general secretary of the Bangladesh Hockey Federation (BHF).
Tournament committee secretary Anvir Adel having denied Sajed's demand said that the representatives of the participating clubs had signed the by-laws and later he showed it to the reporters. He also raised the question of how a tournament can go up to the final without the by-laws being approved.
Anvir also declined to give Mohammedan verbal assurance saying: "I told them that they could field the foreign players if the by-laws permitted them."
However the statement was over when BHF president Air Marshal SM Ziaur Rahman came down to the field to request Sajed to start the game within a few minutes as the chief guest Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith was on his way to the stadium.
The game got underway at 5:20pm with both captains taking part in the toss and moments later, Usha Krira Chakra protested fielding the Malaysian player.
Usha general secretary Abdur Rashid Shikdar convinced his boys to play under protest.
"We have already filed a complaint against Mohammedan for fielding an unregistered foreigner and the league committee will decide it," said Shikdar adding that they had played the final for the greater interest of the game and did not want to disappoint a 2000-strong crowd.
In another twist, Anvir Adel resigned from his post as tournament and league committee secretary before the delayed start of the game, and said that it was tough for him to work under the circumstances.
"It is really difficult to work with people who sign and then refuse that they have done so," said Anvir.