Bangladesh Football Federation
Salahuddin elected SAFF president for 4th time in a row
Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) President Kazi Mohammad Salahuddin was re-elected as the chief of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) for the fourth time in a row Saturday.
He was elected president unopposed for a consecutive fourth term till 2026 during the SAFF Ordinary Congress 2022 held at a Dhaka hotel today as no other candidate filed a nomination to run against him.
The congress also re-elected Ugyen Wangchhuk, general secretary of the Bhutan Football Federation, as the SAFF executive committee member till 2026.
Jaswar Umar, president of the Sri Lanka Football Federation, was elected the Asian Football Confederation executive committee member to represent SAFF till 2023. Both candidates were also elected unopposed.
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The SAFF electoral committee said there are four vacant positions in the executive committee – two vice-presidents, one male and one female executive committee members will be elected in the next SAFF Congress in 2023.
Earlier, a SAFF executive committee meeting was held before the congress. It decided to hold the SAFF Women's Championship 2022 in Nepal from August 29 to September 10.
The Sri Lanka Football Federation reiterated its commitment to hold the SAFF U-17 Championship during September 5-16.
The committee also decided to review the proposal put forward by marketing company Sports Partner for the sponsorship of the SAFF Men's Championship.
The SAFF Disciplinary, Ethics Code and SAFF Code of Conduct were also approved by the executive committee.
Speaking after his re-election as president, Salahuddin thanked all the member associations for the trust they had placed in him and urged all to work as a family for the betterment of football in the region.
"We are not the best footballing region in the world but we have to work as a family, as brothers, to uplift the standard of the game in the region," he added.
"When I was elected as the president in 2009, we just had the SAFF Men's Championship, but after that, we organised 27 competitions. This shows how much progress we have made over the years," Salahuddin said.
The 27 different SAFF competitions that have been arranged since 2009 are the SAFF Championships (six times), SAFF Women's Championships (five times), SAFF U-15 Men's Championship (six times), SAFF U-15 Women's Championship (three times), U-17/U-18 Men's Championships (four times) and SAFF U-18/19 Women's Championship (three times).
BFF removes Jamie Day as national team head coach, Oscar Bruzon steps in
Bangladesh Football Federation on Friday relieved Jamie Day, the English head coach of national men's football team, just two weeks before the SAFF Championship due early next month in the Maldives.
Spanish Oscar Bruzon has been named as interim head coach of the national team for two months. He is currently the head coach of the Bangladesh Premier League champions Badhundhara Kings.
The decision was taken at a meeting of BFF National Teams Committee on Friday with committee chairman Kazi Nabil Ahmed in the chair.
After the meeting, Kazi Nabil said that BFF considered Bruzon's experience of working with footballers in various countries and his overall experience in giving him the task.
The recent performance of Jamie Day was not also so satisfactory, he said.
Appointed as head coach of national team in 2018 has not been sacked, but relieved of his duty for the next two months. He still has one year to go on his current contract.
Bruzon has been with Bashundhara since 2018. He previously worked with Mumbai FC in India and New Radiant Club in Maldives. He also had coaching experience in Spain, having worked with Celta Vigo youth team and also being in charge of Mallorca as an assistant coach.
During two-month tenure Bruzon will look after the national booters for three ensuing tournaments.
His first assignment will be the 13th version of SAFF Championship scheduled for the Maldives capital Male from October 1-16.
Apart from the SAFF Championship, Bruzon will also oversee the Bangladesh side in the AFC U-23 Asian Cup Qualifiers scheduled for October 22-30 in Kuwait and in the four-nation tournament in Sri Lanka from November 8-17.
In the SAFF Championship, Bangladesh will take on Sri Lanka on October 1, play giant neighbour India on October 4, meet defending champions and hosts Maldives on October 7 and will face Nepal in the last league match on October 13.
Since August 2018, the 41-year-old British coach Jamie Day steered the team to nine wins, five draws and 15 defeats in 29 matches. Bangladesh were eliminated from the group stages of the 2018 SAFF Championship by virtue of goal difference despite securing six points levelling with Nepal and Pakistan.
BFF President Salahuddin in Kyrgyzstan to encourage national players
Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) President Kazi Mohammad Salahuddin reached Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek Thursday to encourage the Bangladesh national football team.
The BFF president, Mahfuza Akhter Kiron – FIFA council member, BFF and AFC member – and BFF General Secretary Abu Nayem Sohag landed in Kyrgyzstan at 1:10pm Bangladesh time.
The national team is now Bishkek to play the "Tri-nation Cup 2021" with Palestine and hosts Kyrgyzstan.
Jamie Day's Bangladesh team will face Palestine on September 5 before taking on hosts Kyrgyzstan on September 7 in the tri-nation cup.
Read: Expatriate booters Rahbar, Tahmid join practice session in Kyrgyzstan
The touring Bangladesh team will also play a friendly match against hosts Kyrgyzstan U23 side on September 9 as part of their preparation for the SAFF Championship in the Maldives next October.
Earlier, the Bangladesh team started their practice session in Kyrgyzstan last Sunday at the Sports City Field in Kant city.
However, two new Bangladeshi-origin players of the team – forward Rahbar Wahed Khan from Canada and midfielder Nayb Md Tahmidul Islam from France – reached Bishkek last Monday and joined the national team's practice session.
BPL Football likely to resume Tuesday
The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has decided to resume the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) Football 2020-21 Tuesday after a break of two weeks.
Chittagong Abahani will play Uttar Baridhara Club at the Kamalapur Stadium; Rahmatganj MFS will face Brothers Union at the Bangabandhu National Stadium when the league restarts.
Read: BPL Football put off at the last moment
BFF Senior Vice-President and Professional Football League Management Committee Chairman Abdus Salam Murshedy informed the media about the federation's latest decision Sunday.
"Including the Bangladesh Army Stadium in Banani as a BPL Football venue is also on the cards," he said.
Read: BPL Football defers by six days
The BPL, which had earlier been scheduled to restart on July 24 after the Eid holidays, was deferred to July 30.
Once again, it was put off Friday. The postponement came just 60 minutes before matches had been due to start.
BPL Football put off at the last moment
The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) Football 2020-21, which was scheduled to resume Friday, was postponed at the last moment.
The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) announced a new BPL fixture for the 20th and 21st round matches Thursday night to restart the league today. However, the postponement came just 60 minutes before Friday's matches had been due to start.
The BFF today postponed the remaining second phase BPL matches saying, "We will keep everyone in the loop after reviewing the overall situation."
Read: BPL Football defers by six days
The BPL, which had earlier been scheduled to restart on July 24 after the Eid break, was deferred to July 30.
As per the latest fixture, Chittagong Abahani were scheduled to face Uttar Baridhara Club at 4pm at the Kamalapur Stadium and Rahmatganj MFS were supposed to play against Brothers Union Club at the same time at the Bangabandhu National Stadium today.
BFF media chief Amit laid to rest
Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) Head of Media Ahsan Ahmed Amit was laid to rest at the Azimpur graveyard Monday noon.
The BFF media chief passed away on June 30 while undergoing treatment in New Delhi.
Amit, also a good sports organiser and an executive committee member of the Bangladesh Table Tennis Federation, was admitted to a Delhi hospital with the complication of kidney disease.
The 43-year-old had a successful kidney transplantation on June 22. He was waiting to return home but died of a brain haemorrhage Wednesday.
READ: BFF media chief Amit's body reaches Dhaka
Amit's body reached Dhaka Sunday night from India's New Delhi through the Benapole border.
Amit's second janaza was held at his beloved Bangabandhu National Stadium (BNS) at 11am.
BFF Vice-President Mohiuddin Ahmed Mohi, General Secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag; members Mahfuza Akhter Kiron, Zakir Hossain Chowdhury, and Ameer Khan were present in the namaz-e-janaza at the BNS.
READ: BFF media chief Amit no more
The BFF, the Bangladesh Table Tennis Federation, the Bangladesh Sports Press Association and other organisations paid their last respect to Amit at the BNS.
BFF media chief Amit's body reaches Dhaka
Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) Head of Media Ahsan Ahmed Amit's body reached his Gopibagh residence in Dhaka Sunday night from India's New Delhi through Benapole border.
Amit's father, Bangladesh Table Tennis Federation Vice-President Khondakar Hasan Munir, BFF Grassroots Manager M Hasan Mahmud, and two others brought the body home in the afternoon.
The first namaz-e -janaza of Amit will be held at 10am on Monday at Bismillah Masjid in Gopibagh's RK Mission Road.
Also read: BFF media chief Amit no more
Amit's second janaza will be held at his beloved Bangabandhu National Stadium at 11am and he will be laid to rest at the Azimpur graveyard at around 12:30pm.
The BFF media chief passed away on June 30 while undergoing treatment in New Delhi.
Amit, also a good sports organiser and an executive committee member of the Bangladesh Table Tennis Federation, was admitted to a Delhi hospital with kidney complexities.
The 43-year-old had a successful kidney transplantation on June 22. He was waiting to return home but died of a brain haemorrhage Wednesday.
BPL, BCL Football matches postponed
All the matches of the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and Bangladesh Championship League (BCL) Football 2020-21 have been postponed.
Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) took the decision to postpone leagues Friday due to continuous rainfall in the capital and unplayable condition of the field. The BFF also considered the weather forecast while making the decision.
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The fresh date and fixture for the remaining league matches will be announced later, said the federation.
Earlier, the BFF postponed the Women's Football League, and the 3rd Division Football League matches up to July 7 due to inclement weather and countrywide strict lockdown.
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BFF media chief Amit no more
Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) Head of Media Ahsan Ahmed Amit passed away Wednesday while undergoing treatment in New Delhi.
Amit, also a good sports organiser and an executive committee member of the Bangladesh Table Tennis Federation, breathed his last at 6:10pm. He was admitted to a Delhi hospital with kidney complexities.
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The 43-year-old had a successful kidney transplantation on June 22. He was waiting to return home but died of a brain haemorrhage today.
The BFF media chief left behind his father, elder brother and a large number of admirers to mourn his death.
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The BFF today condoled his death and conveyed profound sympathy to his family. Bangladesh Sports Journalists Association and Bangladesh Sports Press Association also mourned Amit's death.
BFF celebrates AFC Grassroots Football Day 2021
The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF), with the support of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), celebrated the AFC Grassroots Football Day 2021 in the capital and three other districts of the country Saturday.
BFF EC members Ameer Khan, Mahidur Rahman Miraz; Technical Director Paul Thomas Smalley, General Secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag, Grassroots Brand Ambassador and National Women's team captain Sabina Khatun were present at the inaugural programme at the BFF artificial turf in Dhaka.