BFF’s dysfunction produces mixed bag
Two days after being re-elected for a third term as Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) President in May 2016, Kazi Salahuddin promised to place emphasis on developing district football, strengthening club football and building a strong national football team.
At the end of 2019, with only four months of the legendary striker’s tenure left, none of his promises have materialised and Bangladesh’s 187th FIFA ranking reveals the sorry state of the country’s popular game.
A strong national team remains a distant dream at the end of a year that was a mixed bag for the national team. The booters started with a 1-0 victory over Cambodia in a friendly match in March before facing Laos in the FIFA World Cup and Asian Cup Qualifier play-offs in June.
Bangladesh crossed the Laos hurdle with an aggregate 1-0 win to enter the World Cup and Asian Cup Qualifiers, a stage they gained direct entry to in last edition’s Russia World Cup Qualifiers thanks to a better ranking.
However, the charges of English coach Jamie Day could not impress in the Qualifiers, except in the matches against reigning Asian champions Qatar and India. Bangladesh are currently at the bottom of the five-team table after losing to Afghanistan (1-0), Qatar (2-0) and Oman (4-1) and drawing 1-1 against India.
Bangladesh had also easily beaten Bhutan 4-1 and 2-0 in a two-match friendly series in October but almost the same squad, under the banner of the Bangladesh U-23 team, lost to Bhutan and Nepal in the South Asian (SA) Games, where they also played out a 1-1 draw against Maldives and beat Sri Lanka 1-0.
The promising form leading into SA Games raised hopes of regaining gold. But expectations proved to be unfounded and a lack of goal-scoring nous was identified as a major reason behind the SA Games failures, for which Salahuddin will have to shoulder blame as he apparently forgot his promise to develop district football and strengthen the club game.
“Real success will come when district football and club football develops,” was Salahuddin’s realisation after being re-elected, but the BFF could stage the district league just once in nearly four years while allowing clubs to register five foreigners instead of four, stunting the growth of local players.
AGE-GROUP TEAMS
Having a strong pipeline is thought to be a precondition to strengthening the national side and signs of development come through international successes of age-group teams. Although professional clubs -- with one or two exceptions -- are not interested in their respective youth sides, the game’s governing body in association with Fortis Group came forward to build an academy early this year. But the development of those footballers has not yet been noticeable despite the appointment of a couple of foreign coaches. The boys failed to defend the title of the SAFF U-15 Championship in Bhutan as the two-time champions finished third after suffering humiliating defeats to Nepal (4-1) and eventual champions India (4-0).
Virtually the same group failed to lift their performance in the AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers, finishing third in a four-team group that included Qatar, Yemen and Bhutan. However, they had the final laugh by winning the UEFA-assist four-team tournament in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh U-18 had some consolation in the SAFF U-18 Championship, finishing second behind champions India but they frustrated in the AFC U-19 Championship Qualifiers, ending in last place behind Bhutan in a four-team group.
The girls finished runners-up for the second successive time in the SAFF U-15 Championship, but they had the last laugh as they qualified for the final round of the AFC U-16 Championship for the second successive time. They also earned their first ever point in the final round by holding a strong Australia 2-2, following a disappointing 1-0 loss to hosts Thailand and a 9-0 thrashing at the hands of former champions Japan.
The Bangladesh women’s team had a bitter experience in the AFC U-19 Women’s Championship in Tajikistan, losing 7-0 and 2-0 to South Korea and Chinese Taipei respectively but a 5-1 win over Tajikistan served as some consolation. They however jointly won the first-ever Bangamata U-19 Women’s International tournament along with Laos after the final was called off due to inclement weather.
ABAHANI’S FEAT
Advancing into their maiden AFC Cup inter-zonal semifinals was a stellar achievement for Abahani, who had beaten April 25 of North Korea 4-3 in a thrilling match at home before a 0-2 defeat away ended a dream run.
HIGH ADMINISTRATIVE COST
Even with the continued absence of most lower division leagues, district leagues, age-group tournaments and national competitions, the high administrative cost of the game’s governing body was a topic of discussion at the end of 2019.
The BFF, according to audit reports from 2016 to 2018, spent Tk 87.18 crore against a revenue of Tk 83.12 crore. More than 38 percent [Tk 33.39 crore] of the expenditure was part of the BFF’s administrative costs, which raised questions about the rationale of spending such huge amounts while overlooking crucial competitions and pushing the country’s football downhill year after year.
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