Amin Ahmed to Run for BFF Presidency

The election of Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) received a sensational twist yesterday when Maj Gen (retd) Amin Ahmed Chowdhury announced his candidature for the president's post.

The announcement put end to talks of a unified panel for the April 28 polls as Kazi Salahuddin, who needs no introduction to football lovers of the country, has already declared that he would contest for the hot seat of the federation.

On the other hand, it still remains an enigma whether the incumbent president SA Sultan will compete in the election or not.

Yesterday's showdown of the ex-army official however indicates a tough battle for Salahuddin, arguably the best footballer the country has ever produced who quit as vice-president after a dispute with Sultan.

Amin Ahmed expressed his desire to contest the polls at a press conference at the National Sports Council (NSC) conference room.

Abahani director Nabil Ahmed Chowdhury, Mohammedan general secretary Lokman Hossain Bhuiyan, president of Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra Nurul Alam Chowdhury, Victoria president Shawkat Ali Khan Jahangir, former BFF general secretary Harunur Rashid, Badal Roy, Zakaria Pintoo, Salam Murshedi, Sheikh Mohammad Aslam, Rumman Bin Wali Sabbir were also present.

One might be surprised at Amin Ahmed's sudden appearance into the footballing scene and when questioned, he said, "I have been thinking of contesting the polls since October-November so it is not a sudden decision. I was in charge of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1985 and 1993 SAF Games held in Dhaka. Other than that, I have been watching football since my childhood. I have come forward to work and bring back the glory days of football."

Confirming that he did meet Salahuddin regarding the formation of the unified force, Amin Ahmed explained, "Salahuddin is Bangladesh's pride. I took the proposal of the unified panel to him but he told me that he had thought of running for the president's post long ago."

The panel is still not settled but the presence of prominent figures of the football arena merely confirmed them as part of Amin Ahmed's panel.

Meanwhile, in a late night change of clubs, Amin Ahmed went from being a councillor of Muktijoddha Sangsad to Badda Jagarani. "I have been with Badda since the days of KZ Islam. A lot of other clubs also wanted me to be their councillor and as the government circular was not issued in time, I could not be with Muktijoddha," informed Amin Ahmed.

He viewed the discontinuation of the league and irregular tournaments as the failures of the country's football. In order to fix all these problems, BFF must become a strong organisation, he stated.

"I am urging all organisers to come forward and work together," proclaimed Amin.

National Booters Form Club

A group of national footballers formed a club named 'Sporting Independent Club' with a vision to lend support for the future talent across the country.

Former national captain Arif Khan Joy disclosed the details during a press conference at the Dhaka University gymnasium yesterday.

"Our main objective is to arrange training camps for the children across the country and the good news is that one of our well-known coaches Wajed Gazi has agreed to work as the head coach to run this programme smoothly," informed Joy.

"And you know the players who are not from Dhaka have to face a lot of hassle to find a club. We will try to help them negotiate with the clubs," he added.

Joy however made it clear that it's not a parallel organisation of the Football Players' Association.

"It's a totally different organisation," said Joy.

He also informed that they would hold exhibition matches across the country to raise funds to conduct the camps and run this organisation.

"We will play exhibition matches to collect money and it would be our main source of income but we will also try to collect money from other sources," said Joy adding that they will play their first match at Cox's Bazar on April 16 and the second match on the following day at Chokoria.

Besides Joy, striker Alfaz Ahmed and Arman Miah were the other notable faces among nearly 30 footballers present during the briefing.