Teams asked to register players

Hailakandi, July 4: The District Sports Association (DSA) of Hailakandi has decided to take some strong measures to put an end to the difficulties that evolved while holding the semi-final matches of the A Division football tournament of Hailakandi.

A meeting of the DSA officials at Santosh Kumar Roy Pavilion in Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Stadium decided that the four teams playing in the semi-finals will have to get all of their players registered before being allowed to play in the matches.

The first semi-final played last week between Young Men Athletic Club (YMAC) and Insaaf Club turned ugly after the referee flashed the red card to two players.

Till half time the match was poised 1-1, but in the 53rd minute, ill temper crept into the match over a controversial handball decision.

The referee, Badal Choudhury, showed red cards to Riya Uddin of YMAC and Muktadur Rahman Choudhury of Insaaf to control the situation.

However, the move backfired, resulting in chaos and the referee ultimately stopped the match and submitted a detailed report to the DSA.

The next day the second semi-final was scheduled to be played between Sporting Union and Winsome Organisation but it was also postponed by the football wing of the DSA after Sporting Union complained that Winsome were playing with unregistered players.

Secretary of Hailakandi DSA, Saibal Sengupta, said all the teams in the semi-final would have to give proof of registration of all their players and only then would the last part of the tournament resume.

President of Assam Cricket Association (ACA) and excise minister Gautam Roy has expressed serious concern over the issue. He said the state government has released Rs 2 crore for the completion of Hailakandi stadium.

Rural football

Simanta Yuva Parishad emerged champions in the Suterkandi Rural Football Championship by defeating Suterkandi XI 3-2 in tiebreakers at Suterkandi in Karimganj district yesterday.

Suterkandi took the lead in the 28th minute of the match when Abdul Basit ruffled the Simanta net. However, Jashim Uddin of the Parishad found the equaliser in the 44th minute. With the score tied 1-1, the match headed for a tiebreaker.

Suman Das and Ahad Ahmed scored for the winners. Kabir Ahmed scored the only goal of Suterkandi.

The deputy commissioner of Karimganj, Bhupendra Chandra Sharma, and former minister Abdul Muktadhir Choudhury, among others, gave away the prizes.

Jamal Uddin and Suman Das of the winning team were declared Best Player of the Tournament and the Best Player of the final match respectively.