Kazi Salahuddin has assured to execute the manifesto if elected once again, for the fourth consecutive time, as the president of Bangladesh Football Federation.
The BFF chief admitted that his committee couldn’t fulfil 25-30% of the manifesto they announced before the 2016 BFF Election, but promises to fulfill the latest manifesto declared Sunday ahead of the 2020 Polls.
The number of articles, 36, in both election manifestos is the same.
“Around 70-75% work is done from the 2016 manifesto. But it was not my manifesto. There was confusion at the time. I was not in the meeting when the manifesto was made. Tarafder Ruhul Amin (then chief election co-ordinator) did this,” said Salahuddin to the media.
“This time it took three months of research to prepare the manifesto. It will be executed properly. The money is also there to execute,” added the former star national footballer.
It was during his reign Bangladesh dropped to their lowest ever Fifa ranking (197th).
Salahuddin will vie for the president's post for the fourth time in a row Dhaka Tribune/Md Manik
Salahuddin, in his latest manifesto, pledges to work and take the ranking near 150.
“When we took the charge the ranking was 180. Currently it is 187. When France became world champion their ranking was four and Belgium first. Fifa friendlies are important to improve ranking. We couldn’t play sufficient friendly matches due to financial limitation,” explained Salahuddin, arguably the greatest ever footballer the country has produced.
Salahuddin also dismissed the criticism of not producing star footballers of the same calibre like in the past during his 12-year reign by replying that players like Jamal Bhuiyan and Mamunul Islam didn’t get enough media coverage.
He also tried to explain the lack of spectators at football matches, saying, “There was no source of entertainment during our time other than watching football from gallery. People could also travel faster from one place to another. Now there is traffic jam everywhere and people can watch Lionel Messi on TV.”
Salahuddin also shared a stat, stating that the national team enjoyed five percent higher winning percentage during the last 10 years, compared to the previous 40 years, despite playing against better opponents than they used to face before.
He also said the earning of current premier league players also increased much more as opposed to that of a decade ago.
SALAHUDDIN-LED COMBINED PANEL
President: Kazi Salahuddin
Senior VP: Abdus Salam Murshedy
VPs: Kazi Nabil Ahmed, Imrul Hasan, Ataur Rahman Manik, Amirul Islam Babu
Members: Harunur Rashid, Shawkat Ali Khan Jahangir, Mahfuza Akter Kiron, Satyajit Das Rupu, Ilias Hossain, Bijon Barua, Iqbal Hossain, Amit Khan Shuvro, Mahiuddin Ahmed Selim, Jakir Hossain Chowdhury, Syed Riazul Karim, Kamrul Hasan Hilton, Imtiaz Hamid Sabuj, Asaduzzaman Mithu, Nurul Islam