Salahuddin rubbishes gentlemen's agreement
Kazi Salahuddin will not allow any gentlemen's agreement among the Dhaka clubs to deny the players from their proper remuneration.
The new Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) president made the comments on the most talked about issue in the football arena while talking with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) website in Kuala Lumpur.
"I assured the top players that they would be part of the transfers and no underhand dealings will be allowed," he said when asked about the Dhaka-based clubs' so-called 'gentlemen's agreement' about the players' transfer for the B. League.
Salahuddin also promised that he would appoint three European coaches for under-17, under-20 and national teams but dismissed the chance of former Bangladesh coach Diego Cruciani, who recently expressed his desire to get back the job, returning.
“We are planning to hire three foreign coaches for our senior, under-20 and under-17 teams. Though the senior team does not have any international engagement after the South Asian Football Federation Championship next month I would like them to train throughout the year,” said the 54-year-old.
"We are not thinking about Cruciani because it is difficult for someone to do something different who has already done the job. I have some CVs in my hand and I will start the negotiation after attending the FIFA congress in May 30," he added.
Salahuddin, who was in the Malaysian capital to meet AFC president Mohamed Bin Hammam, again promised a significant change in the Bangladesh football scene over the next two years and said his top priority is to bring the “game back to the field”.
“The players are sitting idle for more than six months as there are no activities in Bangladesh and that's one of the main reasons for our team's lacklustre performance at the international stage,” he said.
He informed that the federation would start the second season of the B. League in August, preceded by the Federation Cup in July.
“We have a lot of problems at hand and it will take some time to streamline the process. I have received good response from the sponsors and I believe things will change significantly within a year,” said Salahuddin, who is believed to be the best striker the country has ever produced.
He said Bangladesh will have a training camp in Bangkok from May 25 where the team will play two friendly games before leaving for Sri Lanka for the SAFF Championship.
Salahuddin also said he will appoint a full-time general secretary in the federation next month and after that work out details of re-launching the 'Vision Bangladesh' project.
“I am very optimistic about Vision Bangladesh as it can change the face of Bangladesh's football. We need to concentrate on grassroots and youth football and I think this project will show us the right direction,” he said.
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