Allegations of match fixing has once again reared its ugly head. When such an allegation comes from a club controlled by a Union Minister of State for Tourism, Sultan Ahmed, none can wish it away saying it is a bad joke.

EMTA Mohammedan Sporting, with the minister at the helm, was unlucky to have not made it to the elite I-League next season. The club, in a must-win situation, was held to a 1-1 draw by United Sikkim Football Club (USFC), co-owned by Indian football icon, Baichung Bhutia, at Gangtok a few days back, in a second division I-League tournament's final league match.

The result also enabled USFC to win the second division I-League, earning 22 points from 12 matches piping ONGC to the second place, though both had same number of win, loss, draw record and was also equal on points. Both USFC and ONGC of Mumbai will figure in the elite I-League next season.

Mohammedan Sporting's coach Alok Mukherjee, a former India star and an acclaimed coach, was the first one to question the penalty decision against his team and queried how the home side benefited by such decisions in other games as well!

The claims are serious in nature and that too against India's iconic football star Baichung Bhutia and his club. Now it is the responsibility of the All India Football Federation to step in and clear the doubts for the benefit of the game in general and Bhutia in particular.

USFC began the Gangtok leg on a disastrous note losing the first of the six matches 0-2 to Royal Wahingdoh of Meghalaya. It drew goalless with Vasco SC of Goa and Kalighat Milan Sangha of Bengal 2-2, after the former led 2-0, in the next two games.

The Sikkim side's fortunes took a sharp turn in the next three games. It defeated ONGC 2-1 in which the latter claimed the lone penalty award was dubious. It beat Aizwal FC of Mizoram 4-2 earning three penalties in which the team converted two and missed one. Finally the debatable penalty against Sporting. Obviously, these developments created doubts in the minds of the aficionados of the game as to the means and methods adopted to achieve results favouring one team.

Mohammedan Sporting allegations are not the only ones this season. In fact, the entire second division league, played in two parts, had its share of controversies.

The first scandal broke out when the coach of Ar-Hima FC of Meghalaya, Subrata Bhattacharya, cried foul and quit his job in a huff after he alleged that his team players were being influenced by USFC officials. He cited two specific matches in which his team conceded goals in last five minutes with an intention to either lose or draw the games. One game was against USFC.

The twist in the tale came about when Ar-Hima, by quirk of fate, was on the threshold of making it to the next round if USFC, which had by then qualified for the next stage, put it across a struggling Aizwal FC. Instead, USFC lost the match 0-3 thus ensuring the elimination of Ar-Hima. The result helped Aizwal to advance to the next stage.

At the end of the two-leg final phase, Aizwal ended on mere five points from 12 games in which it won one, drew two and lost nine matches.

There is more to it than meets the eye. Gauhati Town Club, which competed in the preliminary league phase at Cuttack, disbanded the team after a series of poor shows with the secretary, Debojit Saikia, alleging some of his foreign recruits “underperformed,” which hurt his side's chances.

Apart from the controversy, it is indeed great news for the North-Eastern football that two clubs have made it to the I-League in successive years. It was Shillong Lajong FC that topped the second division league last season and this year it is United Sikkim FC. To justify the talent available in this part of the country, more teams will make it to the elite division of India in the years to come.

>saba@thehindu.co.in

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