“I believe the councillors are trying to bring a big change. They are confident to send the cloud away which has covered the Bangladesh football. I believe the rain is about to come and clean everything. I think people have accepted my manifesto. They have belief in me,” Shafiul Islam Manik told the media after the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of BFF.

The AGM of BFF took place at the same venue. The financial statement was raised at the AGM and adopted unanimously. Three— Tarafdar Ruhul Amin of Saif Sporting Club, Anjan Chowdhury Pintu from Pabna and Nazmul Islam Khandakar from Faridpur— out of 139 councillors were absent in the AGM.

There were two candidates for the post of BFF president. But on the night before the election, long-serving BFF vice-president Badal Roy changed his mind and decided to canvas for votes, since his name was on the ballot anyway despite having applied to withdraw earlier on health grounds.

“I think it’s a strategy of the group who are working against me. But I believe the councillors are very aware of the situation and they will make a good decision. I hope they’ll make a decision what will help Bangladesh football improve,” he added.

Some 139 councillors of BFF will exercise their voting rights to elect one president, a senior vice-president, four vice-presidents and 15 EC members. Voting is scheduled to take place between 2pm and 6pm, followed by its Annual General Meeting (AGM).

It is expected that the main competition of this election is among the incumbent president Kazi Mohammad Salahuddin, Badal Roy who is serving as the vice president of BFF for a long time, and Shafiqul Islam Manik who announced himself a presidential candidate for the first time.

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