Match officials threaten to pull out of match after Abahani supporters abuse umpires
Match referee Akhtar Ahmed Shipar stopped play after the umpires were abused by the supporters present at the Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. He informed that the umpires were frightened to officiate the match.
Who doesn't know about Abahani Limited's influence in the Dhaka Premier League (DPL)? Often the umpires are accused of giving undue advantage to the team. Many call the club 'committee's team' as it is backed up by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) itself.
So far there has been no such accusations in this year's tournament but the on-field umpires were seen opting out of the match because of the Abahani supporters' violence. Match referee Akhtar Ahmed Shipar stopped play after the umpires were abused by the supporters present at the Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. He informed that the umpires were frightened to officiate the match.
Prime Bank Cricket Club locked horns with Abahani Ltd and the latter were asked to bat first. It was the 43rd over of the match and skipper Mosaddek Hossain and Hanuma Vihari were batting. Vihari nudged the ball towards the slip cordon and set out for a single.
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Prime Bank keeper Mohammad Mithun collected the ball thrown by fielder Rubel Hossain and dislodged the bails. Tanvir Ahmed, the on-field umpire at square leg, adjudged Mosaddek out. A disappointed Mosaddek stood behind the stumps in disbelief while the Prime Bank fielders were celebrating.
Some 20-25 supporters from the gallery started to abuse the umpires. One of them shouted, "Hit the umpire in the head". One screamed, "Take them away from the ground."
Match referee Shipar stated that they felt 'unsafe' after the violent behaviour of the Abahani fans. He informed them that they wouldn't officiate the match if the fans continued to abuse. Then the Abahani officials spoke to the fans to calm the situation. Play was stopped for a few minutes.
BCB's umpiring committee chairman Iftekhar Ahmed Mithu heard about that and turned up at the ground. He visited the Abahani dressing room and spoke to head coach Khaled Mahmud about the violent behaviour of the fans.
Mithu told The Business Standard, "Yes, the Abahani fans abused the umpires. This is of course the month of Ramadan and the umpires were not happy with the behaviour. I went to the ground. The run out was a 50-50 decision. I told [Khaled Mahmud] Sujon that the club should have calmed the situation. But such things happen. We have to be a bit aware, that's it."
