Sultan slams media too

SA Sultan

Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) president SA Sultan dragged the media in his on-going war against Sports Adviser Tapan Chowdhury when he lodged an official complaint to the chairman of National Sports Council (NSC) yesterday.
In a letter to the NSC chairman and Army Chief General Moeen U Ahmed, Sultan claimed that the sports adviser had made some unnecessary and uncalled for remarks on his 'family' television channel ETV and to reporters against the BFF beyond his jurisdiction on December 6.
"He (Tapan) had made similar remarks in the past to tarnish the image of the federation but we did not complain to show respect for him. Damaging the BFF's image is not respectable for his ministry either," stated the letter signed by Sultan.
Sultan also seemed to have got tired of the media and blasted it by saying: "The media cannot be controlled without 'exchange' and we haven't indulged in this."
The BFF boss however was not available to clarify what he meant by the word 'exchange'. Also, it could not be known why he needed to control the media, especially after claiming huge success -- including the 2003 SAFF Championship triumph at home and the launching of the Professional Football League -- as the federation chief for the last five years.
Sultan, a former BNP MP, declared that there had been no anomalies, failure or nepotism during his tenure whatsoever.
"However, the politically motivated media and a certain government official have launched a propaganda blitz against us," he commented in the written statement.
Sultan urged the NSC chairman to ignore 'politically motivated' media reports and the remarks of the sports adviser to give the BFF an opportunity to hold a fair election for the greater national interest.
"We believe that your (Moeen U Ahmed) direction and decisions will help us hold an election that will give the BFF the right leadership. We need your help and involvement in doing this. Otherwise, there will be no alternative than to resign," the statement added.
The BFF boss also defended his federation by saying that it ran the game according to its calendar and only failed to stage the Dhaka Premier and First Division Leagues in 2006 due to unavoidable reasons.
"Although there has been a drop in crowd turn-ups, football is still popular and an Abahani-Mohammedan match attracts about 20,000 fans," the statement added.
However, the facts say different things.
It is still believed that the success in the SAFF Championship in 2003 was result of the past committee which roped in Austrian coach George Kottan. But Sultan threw the mentor out when he should have kept the successful coach for a better future.
The Sultan-led BFF -- always cash-starved -- failed to provide a coach to the national team for over two years and later mishandled foreign coaches like Diego Cruciani of Argentina and India's Syed Nayeemuddin.
Earlier this month, the BFF even failed to sell an aggregate of 20,000 tickets in three charity matches between Abahani and Mohammedan.
The sport's governing body in the country has also failed to hold the leagues or regulation tournaments in 2007 which has threatened the career of the players.
When Sultan was selected president of the federation by his party, he disbanded the elected body of the BFF to come under the wrath of FIFA, which banned the BFF instantly. Only when the elected executive committee was reinstated, the FIFA lifted the suspension.
It was during his tenure that the former football greats resigned en masse from the federation as well as the National Team Management Committee when the BFF chief ignored its recommendations about national team officials and chose a controversial BFF member as manager.
Football outside the capital is all but a dead game due to lack of nourishment from the father organisation which at one stage faced the agitation of footballers in demand of football league.
Although the BFF demands last year's AFC Challenge Cup in Dhaka and Chittagong featuring 16 national teams as a success, it was a tailor-made tournament organised by the AFC.
In the last five years and more, the BFF has failed to stage a single international tournament in Dhaka although Sultan made headlines every year by saying that the Padma-Ganga Cup is coming to the country.
Sultan, who has a tendency of denying his own comments, once told reporters that the political allies of BNP were liberal. However, in his constituency, a women's swimming competition was postponed due to fanatic protests by religious groups.
He, however, managed to ignore similar protests in Dhaka by finally staging women's football.