“I got a new lease of life (recovering from stroke). The Prime Minister gave me new life. I consider it my 2nd life. As long as I live and stay with football, I’ll always speak in favour of justice,” he told reporters at Mohammedan Club on Thursday.
Badal, also an award-winning footballer, criticised Salahuddin for his activities, saying, “I have been with him for almost 12 years. He has totally failed. He has no plan at all. I had done everything for the academy in Sylhet but he failed to keep it up. Players of that academy are now out of football. In the last 10 years, there was no success of national team as well.”
He thinks it is high time to change the BFF leadership. “There’s no reason to support Kazi Salahuddin. I’ll urge councillors not to vote for Salahuddin. I hope true football lovers and organisers will give a challenge to Salahuddin. If no one can do it, then I’ll stand against him.”
The former national footballer expressed his surprise over Tarafder Ruhul Amin’s decision not to vie for the post. “He (Tarafder) has been working with districts and clubs but all on a sudden, he announced to quit the president race. I think he was forced to take the decision because of heavy pressure.”
“Kazi Salahuddin says he is a friend of Sheikh Kamal although he didn’t do anything for Sheikh Kamal. Tarafder is a new football organiser but he organised Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup. I highly appreciate Ruhul Amin’s activities. The Prime Minister loves sports very much, especially football. In the last 10 years, many sectors were improved a lot. But only football saw no development due to the BFF leadership.”
Badal Roy was a coordinator of the Kazi Salahuddin panel in the BFF election in 2016. He was elected vice president of BFF for the 3rd consecutive time.
The BFF election will have to be held by April 30 next. Salahuddin declared himself as a president candidate for the fourth time.
Meanwhile, Tarafder Ruhul Amin recently decided not to take part in the election although he worked for this post for the last two years.