No coaches in second party

The second part of the Bangladesh Olympic contingent featuring two swimmers, two sprinters and as many officials are scheduled to fly out today morning for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to take part in the upcoming Olympic Games without the coaches.

Instead of the coaches of respective events, two officials from swimming and athletics will accompany swimmers Mahfizur Rahman and Sonia Akter Tumpa, and sprinters Mezbahuddin Ahmed and Shirin Akter. The swimmers and sprinters had however trained under different coaches.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Swimming Federation (BSF) general secretary Rafizuddin and Bangladesh Athletic Federation (BAF) vice president Shah Alam will attend as team leaders. This raises an obvious question about the omission of the coaches in swimming and athletics even though shooter Abdullah Hel Baki and archer Shamoly Roy are accompanied by their respective coaches.

"The Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) asked us to send an official's name and the federation sent my name as the official. They didn't ask any coach's name. It is better to ask the BOA why they didn't ask for the name of coach," BSF general secretary Rafizuddin told the reporters. 

"I have huge coaching experience though I didn't continue coaching due to other reasons. The federation nominated me considering my coaching experience," was how BAF vice president Shah Alam defended his inclusion in the Olympic contingent.

However, the BOA disagreed with the explanation the federations provided.

"It is always better to send a coach with the athletes but we do what the federation wants. We don't have anything to do if the president and general secretary desire something on behalf of the federation. We are sending them as per the federation's wish," said BOA high official seeking anonymity yesterday.