Chittagong Abahani relegated

Chittagong Abahani's demotion to the Bangladesh Championship League was confirmed after Young Men's Fakirerpool Club beat Rahmatganj MFS 2-1 in a Bangladesh Premier League fixture in Munshiganj on Saturday.

The port city outfit, who patched upa squad with very little finances following the political change in August last year, have only three points from 14 games. With only four matches remaining, they cannot catch up with eighth-placed Fakirerpool, who now have 16 points.

Winners of the inaugural Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup in 2015 and the Independence Cup the following year, the port city outfit had been a constant fixture in Bangladesh's top-flight football since 2013-14 season. This promising era had come after a few struggling seasons since the beginning of the professional league in 2007, eventually culminating in them being relegated at the end of the 2010-11 season.

Meanwhile in yesterday's match, Irfan Hossain gave Fakirerpool a 26th-minute lead before Mosharof Hossain Shanto doubled the advantage eight minutes after restart. Although Rajon Howladar reduced the arrears in stoppage time, the Old Dhaka outfit could not avoid defeat against a side they had beaten 6-1 in their first meeting of the league.

In the other match of the day, Dhaka Abahani failed to gain ground on runaway leaders Mohammedan with a goalless draw against Bangladesh Police in Mymensingh.

The six-time professional league winners started the day eight points behind Mohammedan following the Black and Whites' draw against Fortis FC on the previous day, but could only reduce the gap to seven points, with only four matches still remaining.

The Sky Blues, with 28 points from 14 matches, are three points ahead of third-placed Bashundhara Kings.