The league committee, in an emergency meeting on Monday night, recommended handing Abahani coach Jumman Lusai a two-year ban for assaulting Kibria. The committee also suspended Abahani captain Mahbub Ehsan Rana for one year while two more players Faruque and Nakib were handed three and one-match suspensions.

The punishments, however, have to be approved by the executive committee that is likely meet next week.

"It is a fair decision. I think anybody would have received the same kind of punishment. No one can escape after manhandling match officials," said Abahani hockey secretary Zahidur Rahman Pushkin yesterday.

"We are extremely sorry for the incident. I never thought my team would behave like that. Who could imagine that a person like Jumman Lusai would have the audacity to beat the umpire?" asked Pushkin who is also the BHF joint-secretary.

Pushkin also blamed the team manager and an Abahani representative for not taking proper steps to restrain the players and the coach.

"We will review the whole situation in the club meeting," said Pushkin adding that they would apply to the BHF executive committee to exempt Mahbubul Ehsan Rana from the punishment as he was the team captain and a vital member of the team.

"That will be our request, if that is not accepted, we won't mind," he said.

Pushkin, however, complained that Kibria was not originally appointed to officiate in the match along with Aslam Omar Belim.

"As far as my knowledge two international umpires Abdul Latif and Aslam Belim were appointed for the match. I don't know how Latif was changed by a first-class umpire Kibria," Pushkin said.

BHF general secretary Shamsul Bari, who was absent during the final because he was attending the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) congress in Busan, South Korea, also agreed with Pushkin saying that Latif and Belim were the match officials.

"I left for South Korea on June 25. But the night before I instructed the League Committee and umpire's board secretaries to appoint Latif and Belim for the final. But if there was a problem with Belim then Kibria could be named instead.

"But in no way was Latif to be changed."

"I don't know who has done it," said Bari at his Maulana Bhasani Stadium office. He thought that it was a pity that he had to deal with such trivial matters despite having so many officials in the federation.

When contacted, umpire's board secretary Hasan Ali admitted that Bari instructed them to keep Latif and Belim in the final but he failed to do that because of the league committee secretary Mashurul Kabir Ritu who opted for Kibria.

Ritu has repeatedly informed the press that he did it after being guided by umpires's board president Mirza Farid Ahmed Milu.who denies the accusation.