Helal resigns as SAFF general secretary

South Asian Football Federation's (SAFF) long-serving general secretary Anwarul Haque Helal has tendered his resignation, two months into his new one-year tenure.

The veteran sports organiser's resignation will be effective from the end of March, Helal told The Daily Star.

"I submitted my resignation on the 28th of February and I will be working till the end of this month," Helal said, citing personal reasons for his resignation.

SAFF president Kazi Salahuddin, too, did not want to speak on the issue, just saying that the competitions that are scheduled to take place in the upcoming months will run as per schedule as 'the world doesn't stop for one person.'

Sources inside the Bangladesh Football Federation, where the SAFF secretariat used to be situated, and the SAFF, have informed that the Asian Football (AFC) wants to have its own man at the SAFF. It is part of strengthening jurisdiction and monitoring of the continental football body over its regional federations.

A veteran as a sports organiser, not just in football, Helal served as the general secretary of the South Asian football body since 2015, with yearly renewal of contract, which was last done in January this year.