Silent on FIFA sanctions, vocal about saree

The FIFA sanctions imposed on Bangladesh Football Federation's (BFF) former general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag and on two more high-level employees over financial irregularities were expected to be the main topic of debate on Saturday's BFF Annual General Meeting (AGM).

This was BFF's first AGM since the FIFA sanctions and therefore presented the perfect opportunity for BFF councillors to ask tough questions to the federation and its long-serving president Kazi Salahuddin.

But nothing like that happened, as the four-time president completed another general meeting without a hitch in the presence of approximately 130 councillors out of 147 and is seemingly getting ready to compete for a fifth consecutive term in the next BFF elections.

Surprisingly, revealed a club official who was at the meeting and sought anonymity, the councillors were apparently more animated about one of the gift items they received for attending the meeting, a saree.

"When the councillors were speaking amongst themselves after the meeting, many of them said they were unhappy with the saree they got as a gift. They were saying what will they do with a saree, they would have benefited more with a football instead."

Some councillors from district and divisional football associations were vocal about receiving financial support from the FIFA funds to help the game grow at the grassroots.

"Majority of the councillors just shouted 'pass, pass' for every motion while only two district councillors – Jashore DFA president Asaduzzaman Mithu and Narail DFA president Ashiqur Rahman Miku – talked about district football and demanded monitoring and financial help to run DFAs but they did not raise the question about the misuse of FIFA fund," the club official added.

In the two-hour-long meeting, only one councilor posed a question about the mismanagement of the FIFA funds, which led to the sanctions that brought great shame to the federation and Bangladesh as a nation at the world stage.

"It was not that there was no opportunity to talk during the AGM but none of councillors except one – journalist-cum-councillor Mozzammel Haque Chanchal—raised any questions about the FIFA sanctions and the financial irregularities revealed by FIFA," said another club representative seeking anonymity to keep his club safe from BFF's ire.

"They [councillors] are always vocal elsewhere but they keep their mouths shut in the right place. They probably kept silent hoping not to get coloured. Chanchal asked why the ban on Shohag was not included in the general secretary's report and asked the BFF office bearer to be more cautious in future," he added.

Fazlur Rahman Babul, a veteran organiser and former BFF executive member, was disappointed by the silence of the councillors who he felt should have asked questions at the meeting about the future of the country's football.

"It is disappointing that none of the councillors raised questions about the FIFA sanctions in two successive years on financial grounds. It is a strong warning for the BFF to walk the right way," Babul told The Daily Star.

"I think the councillors are waiting to get some rewards ahead of the BFF elections, that's why they did not ask about the financial irregularities revealed by FIFA."

In April 2023, FIFA's independent ethics committee sanctioned Shohag for two years over financial irregularities and the same committee sanctioned a fresh ban on Shohag in May this year alongside BFF's chief financial officer Abu Hossain and operations manager Mizanur Rahman. BFF senior vice president and financial committee head Abdus Salam Murshedy also faced monetary punishment from FIFA.

The tenure of BFF's current executive committee will come to an end on October 3, and it has been learnt that the committee is preparing to hold the next BFF election in the middle of September. The date of the next BFF elections could be decided in the next EC meeting.