FIFA-AFC punish Bangladesh but BFF fails to root out corruption
The regulatory body of world football governing body, FIFA, imposed a two-year ban and a financial penalty of CHF 10,000 (approximately Tk 12 lakh) on Bangladesh Football Federation general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag on Friday for forging documents.
It was the biggest punishment by FIFA after the BFF was banned for less than one month in 2003, when the erstwhile BFF president, SA Sultan, terminated an elected general secretary, Harunur Rashid, by using political influence.
Besides, the FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) earlier punished the BFF with penalising cash on different occasions for several issues.
FIFA fined the BFF $86,000, including profit, in October 2022 for not paying the wages of national football team coach Jamie Day in time.
In the same month in 2020, FIFA fined the BFF 15,000 Swiss francs for violations of order and security during the 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup joint-qualifier match between Bangladesh and Qatar held in Dhaka on October 10, 2019.
BFF was fined for a similar incident in 2016 during the 2018 World Cup qualifier against Australia.
FIFA penalised BFF 10,000 Swiss francs in July 2017 for failing to settle former assistant coach Rene Koster’s outstanding pay on the FIFA-specified date of May 7, 2017.
In November 2016, FIFA fined the BFF USD 20,000 for withdrawing the national team’s participation from the inaugural Solidarity Cup held in Malaysia.
Even after being punished on several occasions and despite having its own Ethics Committee, BFF failed to root out the corruption.
Former national football team player and National Sports Award 2012 winner Abdul Gaffar believes that the punishment on Shohag is the result of BFF organisers unwillingness to make the itself corruption-free.
‘It was not the first time that the FIFA punished the BFF…They do not learn from the past; they nurture culprits inside the organisation,’ Gaffar told New Age on Sunday.
Mentioning the names of BFF president Kazi Salahuddin, senior vice-president and Finance Committee chairman Abdus Salam Murshedy, and chief financial officer Abu Hossain, Gaffar claimed that the main culprits escaped punishment this time and made Shohag a scapegoat.
‘The main culprits—Salahuddin, Murshedy, and Abu Hossain—behind the forgery still remained untouched. They made a paid employee a scapegoat. How could Shohag sign papers without the consent of any of the three names that I mentioned?’
When he was asked about the BFF Ethics Committee, Gaffer said, ‘The committee is still nothing but a showpiece. There are some reputed persons in this committee, but what will they do when Salahuddin keeps them in the dark?’
Salahuddin told the media on Saturday that he had seen the 51-page FIFA investigation report and would make specific comments after reading it and discussing the matter with FIFA, BFF senior members, and vice presidents.
‘I read the documents yesterday (Friday), today (Saturday) too, but I could not finish them. There is nothing to hide, but before I say anything, I have to sit down with everyone and decide,’ Salahuddin told reporters at the BFF House on Saturday.
‘I spoke to Shohag last night (Friday) about the decision the FIFA Ethics Committee made. He (Shohag) told me that he felt that the decision of the Ethics Committee was ‘unfair’ to him, and told me that he will go to the Court of Arbitration for Sports,’ Salahuddin replied to a query.
When Salahuddin was asked about the financial transaction -related incongruities involving the BFF in the FIFA report, he said, ‘They (FIFA) did not mention financial irregularities, but FIFA’s report addressed the code of ethics and responsibility.’
Shohag, on the other hand, indicated in a media release issued through his personal lawyer, Ajmalul Hossain, that the FIFA Adjudicatory Chamber’s judgment was targeted and biased towards the BFF.
‘The decision is not only erroneous and defective but also targeted and biased towards the Bangladesh Football Federation,’ it stated on Saturday.
Murshedy defended himself by saying he never had ‘enough time’ to verify the documents.
‘To be honest, I don’t have enough time to check out all the documents…It just happened to sign the things approved as per the recommendation of the BFF general secretary,’ Mushedy told the media on Friday-night.
Former national striker Sheikh Mohammad Aslam said, ’Shohag’s suspension by FIFA is the proof of the truth, which is the truth we have been claiming for a long time about the financial irregularities the BFF are making.’
‘This kind of shameful incidence will continue as long as the BFF’s top organisers will nurture the corrupted people inside its domain for their personal gain…And I don’t want to comment on BFF Ethics Committee,’ he added.
Source : New Age
