Dhaka, Jan 22 (UNB) – New football organization “Bangladesh Football Club Association (BFCA)” was formed Tuesday (Jan 22) in a meeting of the representatives of Dhaka Premier League, Championship League, Senior Division, clubs of 2nd and 3rd divisions at a city hotel on Tuesday aiming to the development of the country’s football.

The country’s renowned football organizer and also SAIF Sporting Club Chairman Tarafder Md Ruhul Amin elected the President while Arambagh KS President Mominul Haque Saeed as general secretary of the maiden committee in presence of 57 metropolis clubs, out of 67.

Renowned sports organizer and veteran politician Mozaffar Hossain Poltu, former BFF President SA Sultan, BFF Vice-president Badal Roy, BFF member Fazlur Rahman Babul, former national footballers Hasanuzzaman Khan Bablu, Imtiaz Sultan Jony, Abdul Gaffar and Wahiduzzaman Pintu, among others, were present on the occasion.

Addressing the function, the newly elected BFCA President announced a sponsorship money of Tk 5 lakh each for all the Championship League clubs, Tk 3.5 lakh for Senior Division clubs, Tk 2.5 lakh for the 2nd Division League clubs and Tk 2 lakh for the 3rd Division clubs on behalf of his organization.

The meeting also decided to arrange a grand conference of football organisers with representatives of Bangladesh Football Club Association and Bangladesh District & Divisional Football Association in Cox’s bazar in mid-February.

Dhaka, Jan 22 (UNB) – The 2nd round matches of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) Football begins on Wednesday (Jan 23) after a two-day recess at two separate venues outside Dhaka.

Defending League and Federation Cup champions Dhaka Abahani Limited will big budgeted and Independence Cup champions Bashundhara Kings in a high voltage match at 3 pm at Sheikh Kamal Stadium in Nilphamari on Wednesday.

With the match, the 12,000 crowd capacity Sheikh Kamal Stadium in Nilphamari will make its debut as an new BPL football venue and as well as home venue of Bashundhara Kings after successfully holding FIFA International Friendly match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in September last year.

Holders Dhaka Abahani Limited made a good start in the ongoing tournament beating NoFel Sporting Club by 2-1 goals in the league opener while newcomers Bashundhara Kings also made a good journey in the league beating former champions Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club by 1-0 goal.

Moreover, Dhaka Abahani Limited clinched the season’s curtain raiser meet Federation Cup Football crown beating star-studded Bashundhara Kings by 3-1 goals in the final while Bashundhara Kings lifted the recently concluded Independence Cup title eliminating Dhaka Abahani Limited in the semifinal.

Most of the tickets for the Wednesday’s big match costing Tk 500, 100 and 50 have already been sold out. A large number of football fans gathered at the stadium premises to get a match ticket.

In the day’s other match, Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club will encounter Muktijoddha Sangsad KC at 3 pm at the Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni Stadium in Gopalganj on Wednesday

Both the teams lost their first round matches. Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club lost their BPL opener 0-1 to Bashundhara Kings while Muktijoddha Sangsad KC conceded 0-1 defeat against Chattogram Abahani Limited.

Milan, Jan 22 (AP/UNB) — Cristiano Ronaldo had a penalty saved but it mattered little as Juventus beat last-placed Chievo Verona 3-0 to extend its advantage in Serie A on Monday.

Douglas Costa and Emre Can scored first-half goals and Daniele Rugani added the last late as league leader Juventus restored its nine-point advantage over second-placed Napoli, which beat Lazio 2-1 on Sunday.

It was a bad start to what will already be a difficult week for Ronaldo. He makes an unwanted trip back to Madrid for an expected guilty plea to tax fraud related to his time at Real Madrid.

"There are more important penalties ... he missed a similar one this morning, too, in training," Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said. "However, what's important is the team won in the end.

"Ronaldo was betrayed in the first half by too much desire to score a goal. Things went better for him in the second half, when he was trying to do easier things."

Ronaldo is expected to appear before a judge in Madrid on Tuesday and receive a suspended two-year sentence as part of a deal struck with Spain's state prosecutor and tax authorities last year. The agreement will cost him nearly 19 million euros ($21.6 million) in fines.

Separately, Ronaldo is facing a rape allegation in the United States.

Kathryn Mayorga filed a civil lawsuit in Nevada in September claiming Ronaldo raped her in his Las Vegas hotel room in 2009. Police reopened an investigation into the allegation at her request. Ronaldo has denied any wrongdoing.

Ronaldo has been playing and scoring regularly since the rape allegation emerged but the Portugal superstar appeared distracted on Monday as he uncharacteristically missed decent opportunities.

His penalty was turned around the post by veteran goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino at full stretch. Sorrentino, who was accidentally knocked unconscious by Ronaldo in the opening round of matches, turns 40 in March.

There was some perceived justice in this for Chievo, which felt the penalty was harsh as Mattia Bani was trying to get out of the way of the Douglas Costa shot when it hit his hand.

Juventus was already in control by that point as Douglas Costa scored in the 13th minute with a powerful 20-yard effort into the bottom right corner.

On halftime, Paulo Dybala was surrounded by Chievo players but managed to thread the ball to Emre Can to score his first goal for Juventus since his offseason move from Liverpool.

Chievo, which is nine points from safety, played well but abysmal defending gifted Juventus a third six minutes from time as Rugani was allowed a free header on Federico Bernardeschi's free kick.

CHAMPIONS-LEAGUE CHASING

AC Milan moved back into the Champions League qualifying spots with a 2-0 victory at Genoa.

Fabio Borini and Suso scored in the second half to put Milan in fourth place. Suso did not celebrate scoring against his former team.

Milan also got help from goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. He made a spectacular double save before the goals, first denying Miguel Veloso and then smothering Daniel Bessa's follow-up from close range.

Rio De Janeiro, Jan 22 (AP/UNB) — The son of new Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is fending off suspicions of financial irregularities that are starting to cast a shadow over the administration just four weeks in power.

The newspaper O Globo reported Sunday that the Council for Financial Activities Control is looking into $1.8 million in payments that have flowed in and out of the account of a former driver for the president's son, Sen.-elect Flavio Bolsonaro, from 2014 to 2017. At the time, Flavio Bolsonaro was a state deputy.

The news report comes on the heels of a December investigation by the daily O Estado de S. Paulo, which reported that money to the account of driver Fabricio Quieroz came from the younger Bolsonaro's employees and one payment went to Bolsonaro's wife.

Other irregular payments flagged by the financial regulators for being "suspected of hiding the money's origin" are 48 cash deposits of $530 to the senator-elect over the course a month in 2017, according to Globo's Jornal Nacional on Friday.

Flavio Bolsonaro denies any wrongdoing. He told a television interviewer Sunday that the deposits came from a real estate sale, but didn't explain why they were in cash.

Jair Bolsonaro and his son, far-right politicians who ran on anti-corruption platforms, deny wrongdoing and say that Queiroz should explain the other payments.

Queiroz has dodged two deposition requests from Rio de Janeiro's public prosecutors, citing health problems. He gave a television interview earlier this month denying wrongdoing, but provided few details other than that he is a "businessman" and has taken personal loans from the Bolsonaros.

Vice President Hamilton Mourao tried to diminish the case's importance, telling the news portal G1 on Monday that the probe doesn't affect the administration and that it is Flavio Bolsonaro's own problem.

Questions about the probe are escalating as Jair Bolsonaro makes his first international trip as president to the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland.

Bolsonaro is expected to pitch the international community on his commitment to reforming Brazil's endemic corruption and volatile economy. Upon arriving Monday, he told reporters, "We will give the most ample message possible that ever since we took power: There is a new Brazil."

Bolsonaro has three sons who are elected politicians. All were active participants in his campaign and in spreading Bolsonaro's anti-corruption message.

Flavio Bolsonaro says that he is being persecuted and that his privacy has been violated by prosecutors.

The Rio district attorney, Eduardo Gussem, said at a news conference Monday that prosecutors had not broken privacy laws, citing 20-year-old legislation. He said a total of 27 state deputies have been flagged by the financial regulator over possible irregular payments.

The case got more scrutiny when Flavio Bolsonaro's lawyers last week called on the Supreme Court to suspend the Rio state case because the president's son is a senator-elect. Federal politicians in Brazil can only be judged by the Supreme Court, a legal immunity that the Bolsonaros condemned during their campaigns.

Judge Luiz Fux granted Flavio Bolsonaro's request, causing uproar among Bolsonaro critics and supporters alike.

There has been no conclusive evidence about the possibly irregular payments involving the son's driver. But such payments have often been part of a common corruption scheme in lower levels of Brazilian government in which employees kick back a portion of their salaries to the politician.

The probe is dominating national headlines less than two weeks before the start of the next Congress, where Bolsonaro faces the arduous task of forming alliances in a government body infamous for deal making and political patronage. The case could hurt the president's public support, making promised reforms more difficult to pass.

Sharjah, Jan 22 (AP/UNB) — Title contenders Japan and Australia scraped through tough last-16 games at the Asian Cup on Monday, joined by the host team United Arab Emirates.

Japan advanced to the uarterfinals by beating Saudi Arabia 1-0, while defending champion Australia needed penalties to get past Uzbekistan.

Takehiro Tomiyasu scored for Japan with a header in the 20th minute and the Saudis created few chances despite having more than 75 percent of the possession against a defense-first Japan team.

"In our team, we share the same idea that even when our opponent keeps the ball, if we carefully defend at the end-line, we should be able to defend without any problem," defender Yuto Nagatomo said. "Our opponents held the ball for long periods, but our view was that we let them hold the ball."

Japan, which is looking to win a record fifth Asian Cup title, will next face Vietnam, the lowest ranked of the six teams to qualify so far for the quarterfinals.

Saudi Arabia has not reached the quarterfinals in 12 years. Coach Juan Antonio Pizzi's contract was due to expire after the tournament and he said it hadn't been renewed.

"No one has talked to me from the Saudi federation about that," the Argentine coach said. "We played most of the time today in their half and we controlled the ball and had position, but we lacked the final touch and determination to transfer the position into goals."

Official attendance figures put the crowd at just 6,832 as the Asian Cup continued to be notable for banks of empty seats and echoing chants.

Australia struggled to create chances as a drab game against Uzbekistan ended 0-0 after extra time, before winning the shootout 4-2.

On his return from a hamstring injury, Mathew Leckie scored the winning penalty.

Shooting second for Australia, Aziz Behich saw his penalty saved but goalkeeper Mathew Ryan — shifting from side to side on his line to distract Uzbekistan's penalty takers — stopped two Uzbek shots to put Australia ahead and allow Leckie to seal the win.

Uzbekistan almost scored early on when Ryan kept out Eldor Shomurodov's shot, while Australia wasted second-half opportunities by shooting straight at goalkeeper Ignaty Nesterov. Defeat in the last 16 would have marked Australia's worst Asian Cup result.

Australia is part-way through a rebuild under coach Graham Arnold after veteran players such as Mile Jedinak and Tim Cahill retired from international football following last year's World Cup. Since joining the Asian confederation in 2006, Australia has played eight games in the knockout stages, with five of those going to extra time.

Australia's quarterfinal opposition will be the United Arab Emirates after the host side beat Kyrgyzstan 3-2 after extra time.

Kyrgyzstan missed a string of chances at 2-1 down in the second half before Tursunali Rustamov's stoppage-time header sent the game to extra time. The UAE took the win after Ahmed Khalil's penalty, awarded for a shove on a teammate, but narrowly avoided penalties only when Kyrgyzstan hit the crossbar with 10 seconds remaining.

The UAE is aiming to live up to its third-place result from 2015, and reached the final the last time it hosted the tournament in 1996.