Where BFF failed but others succeeded

The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) once struggled to roll tournaments on the ground due to financial constraints as the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) together had provided the board an inadequate USD 500,000 per year.

However, the scenario drastically transformed in the recent past as FIFA and AFC went on to triple their allocated fund for the BFF. On top of USD 1,500,000 (approx. Tk 16 crore), the BFF was also presented with a glorious opportunity to receive USD 7,067,406 (approx. Tk 74.9 crore) from 2016 to 2022, courtesy of the FIFA Forward programme - from which the game's global governing body offers its member association on the basis of pilot projects. 

After becoming the president of FIFA in 2016, Gianni Infantino introduced the FIFA Forward programme, standing on three main principles: ​more investment, more impact, and more oversight. The aim was to improve the way FIFA develops and supports football across the globe so that football gets to flourish in every single country, allowing them to maximise their potential by overcoming barriers.

While India, Nepal, and Maldives availed complete funding as of September 2022 since 2016, the BFF received 15 per cent of the total approved amount of approx. Tk 74.5 crore from FIFA Forward fund.

Interestingly, Bangladesh was the first nation to get the approval of the Forward programme in 2017 but could hold on to the eligibility status.

The disclosure of the financial irregularities by the Investigatory Chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee on Friday had shown how the BFF spoiled the opportunity to capitalise on the FIFA Forward fund. On the other hand, neighbouring India, Maldives and Nepal paint a completely contrasting picture in this regard.

As per the FIFA Forward requirements, the member associates are barred from spending the Forward funds beyond their respective approved projects. The BFF, however, according to the FIFA 's Investigatory Chamber, had misused the Forward funds several times despite repeated warnings.

FIFA had inevitably stopped channelling Forward funds to the BFF who, in turn, resorted to stopping the development projects at the grassroots and youth level in the past few years while citing financial constraints.

Back in March 2017, the BFF president Kazi Salahuddin had told The Daily Star: "Although we have not received the official letter, I have heard that the FIFA Development Committee approved the development proposal [worth USD 2,120,000] we submitted to them last year [2016]."

"Bangladesh is the first country to get approval as the [FIFA] Development Committee considered Bangladesh's proposal ahead of the ones from two other countries," Salahuddin had further said. 

That time, Abu Nayeem Shohag, the now terminated general secretary, informed the media that under the FIFA Forward programme, the board included the following projects: three youth development plans -- comprising U-12, U-14, and U-19s -- three women's development plans (U-12, U-14 and U-19s), grassroots age-group festival for U-12, U-14, U-16 and U-18s, U-18 National Championship, National School Championship, the Pioneer Football League, National Football League and youth tournaments of the Bangladesh Premier League and Bangladesh Championship League.

Except for a few competitions – the likes of Pioneer Football League, youth competitions of BPL and BCL and age-group festivals – the rest of the aforementioned ones could hardly take place due to the misuse of FIFA Forward funds by BFF.

The FIFA website showed Bangladesh availed only USD 621,438 out of approved USD 7,067,406 Forward fund against seven projects from 2016 to 2022. The total available fund in that timeframe was USD 11,445,000.

Bangladesh, thus, had failed to utilise a staggering 85 per cent of the allocated fund, whereas India (USD 4,250,000 against nine projects), Maldives (USD 4,250,000 against five projects) and Nepal (US$ 2,249,999 against 10 projects) availed their share of approved funds till September, 2022.

India, Maldives, and Nepal used the Forward funds to the fullest -- in improving infrastructure, domestic leagues and the national teams. Unfortunately for Bangladesh, however, despite the flow of money from FIFA increasing by leaps and bounds, the game's local governing body still continues to cite financial limitations as their struggle to complete all its competitions in a calendar year lingers on.

The misuse of Forward funds by the BFF has seemingly driven the country's football on the brink of calamity, for which the board can find none but themselves to blame.