British Paul Smalley arrived yesterday morning to take up the job of the Bangladesh Football Federation's (BFF) technical and strategic director.

Smalley, a footballer-turned-coach, will be country's first foreign official for the sport since the formation of the game's governing body in 1972. They had appointed two local technical directors before– Shahidur Rahman Shantu and BA Jubair Nipu after 2008.   

“We know Bangladesh is behind the established teams of the world. But there is no reason to sit idle. My job is to begin the procedure by following the way the big football-nations do their development works. We need the assistance of FIFA and AFC to implement the plan and I think they will provide help to Bangladesh,” Smalley told reporters after meeting with BFF president Kazi Salahuddin.