BFF elections: Unheralded Mizanur joins race for president post

Two-time former BFF vice-president Tabith Awal and unheralded AFN Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury were the highlights of the second day of nomination distribution for the upcoming Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) elections on October 26, as both bought nomination papers for the president post at the BFF House today.

Tabith Awal had previously announced that he would run for the BFF president post in a press conference last month, but Mizanur, a former joint secretary of Dinajpur DFA (District Football Association), surprisingly declared his candidacy for the much-discussed president post -- held by Kazi Salahuddin for 16 years, since 2008.

"I was a footballer. I have also been involved in coaching since 1986. During our time, the FIFA ranking of the Bangladesh national football team was above 150, but it is now around 190, which hurts me a lot. Besides, nowadays, Bangladesh loses to Bhutan, a side we used to beat by a large margin. I believe there is a lack of proper planning in the BFF to advance the country's football," 67-year-old Mizanur told The Daily Star over the phone from Dinajpur.

"I want to use my 50 years of football experience to develop the country's football, which is why I collected the nomination for the BFF president post," he added.

Apart from the two candidacies for BFF president, Nababpur KC delegate Manjurul Karim, Dipali Jubo Sangho delegate Shafiqul Azam Bhuiyan, and Uttar Baridhara Club delegate Sharif Uddin also bought nominations for BFF executive member positions.

In two days, a total of 30 nomination papers have been sold.