'Blame it on Salahuddin'

Speakers at a seminar today squarely blamed Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) president Kazi Salahuddin for presiding over the once popular game’s plummet to its lowest ebb. The seminar titled ‘Where Bangladesh Football is Heading’ also deplored the present state of the country’s football and demanded immediate steps from the local ruling body to focus on youth development for a turnaround.

In a first of its kind effort from the Investigative Journalism Centre, speakers ranging from former players, organisers, a club owner, high-profile coaches, and veteran journalists who have seen the best and the worst of Bangladesh football focused on a lot of areas in an animated session at the Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) Auditorium.

Sanath Babla, the special correspondent of Kaler Kantha, in his keynote speech stressed that the recent successes of Bangladesh girls in age-group tournaments or even the 1-1 draw of the men’s team against Thailand in the ongoing Asian Games cannot hide the poor state of affairs in the country’s football, where there is no systematic effort from the game’s ruling body to bring back the glory days when domestic football was very popular.

Ashrafuddin Ahmed Chunnu, who created his own brand in the 70s and 80s donning the famous Abahani shirt, lamented the changed scenario.

“When we played football, inter-school, inter-college, Sher-e-Bangla Cup and leagues in every district were very popular. And I have grown up playing in those competitions from Narayanganj. But where are those tournaments now?” questioned the magnificent winger.

Hasanuzzaman Bablu was one of those enfant-terribles of Brothers Union that shot into a third force behind Abahani and Mohammedan in the 80s. He recalled the wise words of George Kottan, the Austrian who coached Bangladesh to glory in the 2003 SAFF championship.

“At that time Kottan said Bangladesh [football] has no future if it doesn’t focus on improving its grassroots. Now we are paying the price for overlooking it,” said the midfielder.

Sirajuddin Mohammad Alamgir is a seasoned organiser from Chittagong and the bearded official termed the BFF House as a fortified fort.

“Now if we want to enter the BFF office we will have to go through three layers of security. People over there are fluent in English which is not understandable for us. ‘We’ has now been replaced by ‘me’ and the boss has little or no time to listen to the voices of those selfless grassroots organisers,” Alamgir fumed.

One of Bangladesh’s most prolific badminton players Qumrunnahar Dana, who has also grown into a football organiser, summed up the frustration of the audience.

“Unfortunately, we have elected Salauddin bhai for a second and third term.”

Former footballer Golam Sarwar Tipu was very emotional in his short speech. He not only blamed the establishment but also held a section of the media responsible for promoting a vested quarter that should be exposed instead.

Tarafder Ruhul Amin is the owner of Premier League side Saif Sporting Club. He also played the key role in Salauddin’s successful campaign for a third term in the BFF hot seat. He however lamented spending a lot of money without contributing to the development of the game.

“We the premier league clubs are spending about taka 100 crore each season. We are playing our matches in front of almost empty stands. We are just going through the motions with no short, mid or long term goals from the BFF. I think it is about time to compel the people in power to listen to us for the greater interest of the game.”