Bangladesh fine top club for alleged match-fixing

DHAKA, July 16 (Reuters) - Bangladesh fined its domestic
football league champions Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club $27,000 on
Saturday for their involvement in a recent match-fixing scandal,
officials said. 

The fine, the biggest ever imposed by the Bangladesh
Football Federation (BFF) on any local club, came after it was
alleged that Jamal took part in a fixed game against Rahmatganj
MFS in the country's maiden professional league in June.     

Jamal came from two goals down to beat Rahmatganj 5-2, which
helped them earn three valuable points and win the title in
their debut season.     

The charge could not be proved beyond any doubt but an
investigation carried out by the BFF concluded that the two
clubs had reached an agreement about the outcome of the game. 

"We have found in our investigation that the two clubs had
an understanding between them before the game," the head of the
ivestigating committee Abdus Salam Murshedi told a news
conference on Friday.     

Soccer is hugely popular in Bangladesh, although its
national team is languishing at 163rd in the world rankings