Same old song and dance
"Since my playing days, I have been hearing the same old music," Jewel says. "BFF officials tell footballers time and again: 'give us results [in the form of a trophy] and see where we take football'. Footballers delivered the trophy during the SAFF Games in 1999, then in the SAFF Championship in 2003 and again in the South Asian Games in 2010. What happened after those results? Has the country's football changed?" the former national captain said in a single breath from Virginia, where he went in search of fortune despite having an AFC A licensed coaching certificate.
"There is no proper planning that could develop Bangladesh football. We have been walking backwards only due to a lack of proper planning. There are no quality players at present and the team being at the bottom of the FIFA rankings is an overall reflection of our national team's performances," said Jewel, who captained the national team to glory in the 1999 SAFF Games in Nepal.
Jewel believes the current batch of footballers are playing to their potential and cannot do any better due to a lack of basic technique and knowledge.
"Why did everyone love players like Rummon Bin Sabbir, Kaiser Hamid and Monem Munna? Because they had good basics. Now, there are huge differences even among national team footballers. I don't want to blame the current batch, whose first responsibility is to play. It is the duty of policymakers to improve players. If players come through the systematic way, they must be quality ones," the 48-year-old opined.
Jewel believes grooming footballers from the grassroots level is a duty for both the national federation and clubs.
"The federation should come forward with projects for football academies based on what other sub-continent nations are doing. Each of the professional clubs must have at least four age-group teams and not just on paper. This way, many coaches will get opportunities to work with clubs and the senior teams of the clubs and the national football team will strengthen," said Jewel, who is disappointed that he feels neither proud nor regret about the country's football despite being a former national captain.
Bringing forth the example of Bhutan, who beat Bangladesh 3-1 for the first time in their football history during the pre-qualifiers of the Asian Cup in 2016, Jewel said: "Bhutan made it possible by having an organised plan that saw them run football academies. They got the dividend some 10 to 15 years later. Considering the current context of Bangladesh football, it will not be possible to take football forward without academies being strictly supervised by the BFF."
"I won't blame only Kazi Salahuddin for the poor state of football. Many others are to be collectively blamed for this dire situation. What have BFF officials, who were at the helm before Salahuddin, done for country's football?" questioned Jewel, who believes neither the federation nor clubs have played any role to develop football.
"It is not good enough to hold the Bangladesh Premier League regularly. Are the lower division and district league taking place regularly? The next generation of footballers is not getting an opportunity to play district leagues. How can they dream of playing in Dhaka? Although the professional football league has been held for the past 12 years, we have never been close to professionalism."
He pointed the only two positives that had seen over the 12 years.
"In the past 12 years, I see only two positives -- holding the Bangladesh Premier League regularly and the development of coaches over the past couple of years. But I believe Salahuddin bhai had many things to do because he has a good advantage of being linked with many influential people. I don't know why he could not use his relationship with others."
Asked whether the upcoming BFF elections could change the fate of Bangladesh football, Jewel said: "It is tough to predict because football is now a part of politics. The election is just a process to change the leadership, but the way BFF executives are being elected should be stopped because many delegates wait for the BFF polls and cast their votes in exchange for money. So, I want to urge those, who want to do business with the clubs and football, stay away from the elections and pave the way for those who really love football."
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