Nasser Shahrear Zahedee, chairman of Radiant Pharmaceuticals Ltd and founding president of Shamsul Huda Football Academy in Jashore, has been the focal point today on the first day of the nomination distribution for the upcoming Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) elections -- scheduled for October 26.

Zahedee, also a former member of Parliament elected independently from the Jhenaidha-2 constituency, has been running the football academy since 2011 and has produced many players for the senior and age-group national teams. Rimon Hossain, Mehdi Hasan Roy, and Mohammad Swadhin were among those who represented the senior national team.

Zahedee is also running a club named Rahul Smrity Sangsad in the Jashore Premier Football League.

"I got encouraged by the situation to see the name of Tabith Awal as a presidential candidate. I believe I can team up with him to take the country's football further if I am elected in the elections," Zahedee told The Daily Star today.

The first day of the nomination distribution saw a total of 25 nominations being sold, with incumbent BFF vice-president Imrul Hasan buying the nomination for senior vice-president. Four nomination papers were also sold, with Zahedee, former footballer Iqbal Hossain, Brothers official Sabbir Rahman Arif, and K-Sports CEO Fahad Karim buying the nominations on the first day.

Six incumbent BFF executive members -- Mahfuza Akter Kiran, Satyajit Das Rupu, Zakir Hossain Chowdhury, Amer Khan, Imteaz Hamid Sabuj, and Tipu Sultan -- were notable among the 20 nomination papers sold for executive members. Meanwhile, a total of 133 delegates cast their votes to elect a 21-member BFF executive committee.