A month after nine current and former players of three Shillong Premier League clubs were banned in Mizoram for suspected match fixing, it was reported today that another Nongthymmai SC player, Sannik Murmu, has been appearing for the club despite having been sanctioned by Football Delhi earlier this year.
Murmu was one of 10 footballers in Football Delhi (formerly the Delhi Soccer Association) tournaments who were given lifetime bans in July for suspected match fixing, match manipulation or spot fixing.
Since then, however, Murmu went on to play in the Calcutta Football League and now the SPL. The Football Delhi ban only applies to Delhi and, as it was not publicised widely, other state associations appear not to have known about it, thus allowing Murmu to ply his trade elsewhere.
Murmu and five other players of Tarun Sangha FC were handed bans by Football Delhi with the remaining four coming from two clubs – Rangers SC and Ahbab FC – that were involved in a shocking example of suspected fixing that was widely covered in the national media back in February.
Exactly why Murmu or the others were punished was not clear. As of now there is no suggestion that he is or was involved in anything untoward at Nongthymmai even though some of the club’s results this season have appeared suspicious, especially the last one where they conceded three goals to Nangkiew Irat (and therefore lost) after the latter had been reduced to 10 men on the pitch because of a red card.
The nine players banned in Mizoram were subsequently barred from playing in this state by the Meghalaya Football Association. It is to be seen whether the same fate will befall Murmu.
Four of those nine had been part of Nongthymmai in SPL 2023, three were from Nangkiew Irat and two from Ryntih. After Mizoram announced the ban, Nongthymmai made a public statement wherein the club said that it expects “that our current players play this beautiful game of football within the confines of the rules and sporting conduct.”
