This will be my last term: Kazi Salahuddin

Kazi Salahuddin, who has been at the helm of the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) for 16 years, is planning to contest for a fifth consecutive term as president in the next BFF elections, set to take place on October 26. The 70-year-old footballer-turned-organiser recently spoke with The Daily Star's Anisur Rahman about his thoughts on running for president once again. Here are the excerpts:

The Daily Star (DS): Are you going to contest in the next BFF elections for the president's post?

Kazi Salahuddin (KS): I think so.

DS: You have been at the helm for four successive terms. Why are you thinking of contesting again?

KS: This will be my last election. I want to finish the work on the vision I had for the national team, then someone else will take over.

DS: You underwent an open-heart surgery last year and there are concerns whether your health will allow you to continue as BFF president for another term…

KS: I was also concerned about my health, but that's not the real obstacle right now. Actually, the problem is that my family don't want me to continue in BFF. But I think my job here is not yet done, no matter who says what. Everyone has no choice but to accept that the national team has been playing well and the league [Bangladesh Premier League] has been taking place regularly. No one can deny that whether they like me or not. Our women's team is the best in the sub-continent. I think one more term should be enough, then someone else can take over.

DS: You had told the media before the previous election that it would be your last term…

KS: But this time it really will be my last term, considering my health, family and everything.

DS: The national football team has been playing well in the recent past but are still languishing in the bottom half in the world rankings. How do you see it?

KS: If you play 10 matches against similarly ranked sides, you will win more games and your ranking will gradually improve. But we usually play against teams which are ranked 30 to 50 places higher than us. Money is another factor. I need Tk 70 lakh to play one international match. We can't manage the money every time, so, we play fewer matches. Once India used to be close to us in the rankings but they are now a higher-ranked side because they play many international matches.

DS: What did you do to strengthen the financial condition of the BFF in your four terms?

KS: When I first came in power, I used to bring Tk 7 to 8 crore from sponsors for every tournament. But different groups went against me during my second and third terms and the media too was not friendly towards me. There were many rumours including corruption which were not true. This had a bad impact on the BFF's image, thus I lost interest and felt embarrassed to approach the sponsors and kept myself away from the private sponsors.

DS: But FIFA suspended BFF general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag, CFO Abu Hasan, general manager Minzanur Rahman on financial grounds. What do you have to say about that?

KS: No one read the FIFA report thoroughly, they just read the part that said that financial reasons were behind the suspensions. That has made the situation really difficult for us. The report stated none of the goods were purchased at a higher cost and they were bought at market price. But there were some flaws in the system. It has become really challenging to recover the BFF's image in this ground. There has been a complete overhaul of the BFF finance division. We have a new general secretary, new CFO and new procurement officers. It's a sad thing for us but now everything is being checked and rechecked multiple times.

DS: How do you evaluate your four consecutive terms as the BFF president?

KS: The first thing I had said in 2008, at a time when the football league was not taking place regularly, is that under me there will always be football on the ground. And in the last 16 years, I have kept my word. No one had to think whether or not the league would be held. That was the first thing I accomplished as the BFF president. Then I made sure that Bangladesh takes part in maximum number of tournaments. I also ensured good training grounds, proper jerseys, equipments, match condition for the national football team, which was not there during my playing career. I have ensured providing the best training facilities in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Korea and Japan and kept the team in five-star hotels. But during our playing careers, we used to be accommodated at the Physical Education College in Mohammadpur and then stayed in BKSP. But the players are now training in Dhaka, availing five-star hotel facilities. These are the things I ensured.