Mominul wins the battle
Bangladesh Hockey Federation (BHF) organiser AKM Mominul Haque Shaeed was elected as general secretary of the BHF, beating former star player and outgoing general secretary Abdus Sadeque, in the highly anticipated BHF polls yesterday.
Two panels -- one was led by Sadeque and Sajed AA Adel while the other by Shaeed and Abdur Rashid Shikdar -- contested the hyped up polls amid huge enthusiasm. Nearly 1000 people came to support the Shaeed and Rashid panel, turning the road in front of the Sultana Kamal Women’s Sports Complex in Dhanmondi into a sea of purple as supporters wore matching Tee shirts and chanted for AKM Mominul Haque Shaeed.
Shaeed, councillor to Mohammedan SC and chairman of Dhaka Mariner Youngs Club, came out on top by bagging 47 votes, 11 more than Sadeque. The Abahani club representative got 37 votes out of 83 with one vote being cancelled.
Although the former general secretary lost the election, most of his followers won their respective seats to grab 17 posts -- four vice presidents, one joint secretary and 12 executive posts -- while the Shaeed-led panel won one vice president, one joint secretary, one treasurer and 7 executive member posts. Unfortunately, former hockey captain Mahbub Ehsan Rana failed to secure a position.
Of the 28 posts up for grabs, Mossadek Hossain Chowdhury Pappu bagged the most votes, securing 80 out of 84 for a member post. Former national player Alamgir Alam was a close second with 74 votes for another member post while Mohammad Yousuf came in third with 69 votes for the joint secretary position.
“After a long 14 years, councillors got back their right to cast votes and elected me as general secretary. I am thankful to all those who elected me. I want to work for hockey with unity as I also want to bring those who could not pass in the elections. I want to spread hockey across the country,” Shaheed told reporters.
“I am happy with the results and wish them the best of luck,” the defeated candidate, Abdus Sadeque, said over the phone. “However, I’m a bit scared over whether they can work together. It is good for hockey if they can work together as candidates from both panel have been elected”.
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