No progress in match-fixing investigation

The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) is seemingly unwilling to carry out an investigation on the match-fixing allegations levelled against Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club and Brothers Union. The issue was referred to the Match Fixing Identification Committee (MFIC) in late June last year, but in the seven months since, there has been no progress.
Brothers allegedly played a fixed match during the fifth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League against Sheikh Jamal DC on June 26, last year in a bid to avoid relegation. The professional football league committee had taken consideration to investigate the matter two days later but the fact is that there has been no progress till yesterday.
Abdus Salam Murshedy, chairman of the professional football league committee, had no information about the progress of the investigation when he was asked to let the media know yesterday while acting general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag provided similarly vague information three weeks ago.
“I talked to members of the committee three weeks before and they told me that they would sit soon,” said Shohag adding that they had informal meetings amongst them but had yet to sit officially.
However, the MFIC had earlier freed Brothers Union and Rahmatganj MFS from a match-fixing allegation and asked the professional football league committee to include a couple of members from Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) and Home Ministry to their committee.
The ACC had already informed the BFF that the matter regarding the match fixing is not under their jurisdiction and they are unable to send a member to the MFIC while Home Ministry has yet to inform their decision to the BFF.
There has been whisper in the football arena that the probe of the match-fixing allegation between Sheikh Jamal DC and Brothers will not see the light as the sixth edition of the professional football league is already well underway.