BFF secretariat trying to buy delegates, allege three bodies

Apprehension over injustice from the mitigation committee for the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) delegates' nomination ahead of the 2020 congress and polls was again brought to the fore as the existing committee of two affiliated bodies -- Dhaka Divisional Football Association (DFA) and Dilkusha SC -- alleged that the BFF secretariat bypassed them by giving away their nomination forms to BFF-preferred candidates.

Mohiuddin Mohi, one of vice-presidents of the BFF, voiced concerns to The Daily Star in mid-April after BFF president Kazi Salahudddin allegedly formed the committee without approval from an executive meeting. The mitigation committee comprises BFF senior vice-president Abdus Salam Murshedy and executive members Harun Ur Rashid and Abdur Rahim

Another member, seeking anonymity, raised questions about whether the BFF can form the judiciary committee with its executive members as they are prohibited by article 32 of the BFF constitution to be part of any judiciary committee. The mitigation committee is a judiciary committee, which seems a clear violation.

The polls were originally scheduled to take place on April 30 before being postponed on March 27 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the BFF secretariat has continued preparing the voter list. The deadline for submission of delegates' names ended on June 7, with the BFF receiving all 141 delegates' names. But there are a couple of disputes, with some alleging that they were harassed for irrelevant documents such as copies of the club constitutions and audits in a move designed to prevent them from submitting their nomination forms on time.

"The BFF secretariat did not give the delegation forms to the newly-elected body, which was elected uncontested on March 19. We informed the matter to the mitigation committee and Murshedy told me that we would not face any problems if they could nominate their preferred delegate, Abdur Rahim bhai. But we turned down their proposal," alleged Shahin Bhuiyan, president of Dhaka DFA, to The Daily Star.

Murshedy is rumoured to again be targeting the seat of senior vice-president in the coming elections.

It was learned that the BFF formed an ad-hoc committee for the Dhaka DFA by naming Abdur Rahim its head and sending his name to the BFF secretariat as the delegate. The BFF did not declare the existing Dhaka DFA committee illegal.

It is unclear whether the ad-hoc committee has any voting rights as all types of BFF statutes are currently unavailable on their website despite being available a few months ago.

"Since the casino scandal, Dilkusha SC officials went into hiding and a new committee was formed on March 24 to keep the club alive. The BFF was aware of every step and we submitted all the papers that they demanded. But they kept us waiting till last Saturday although Murshedy bhai told us that we would get forms. Ultimately, the BFF did not give us the forms as we declined their proposal to select the delegate according to their preference," Dilkuha SC general secretary Shahiniur Rahman Shahin said, adding that BFF official Zaber Bin Ansari and Abu Nayeem Shohag had tabled them the unethical offer.

It was also learned that the secretariat gave away delegate forms to Dilkusha SC's previous committee, headed by AKM Mominul Haque Saeed [who fled the country due to his involvement in the casino scandal], after terming the new committee illegal. That leads to questions about how the previous committee selected their delegates without a mandatory executive meeting.

Tangail Football Academy, a third division team, also alleged that the BFF secretariat influenced them to change their delegate's name by offering Tk 8 lakh.

BFF general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag denied all the allegations, terming the claims from the three bodies "baseless, false, purposeful and politics of sports".

"We asked the Dhaka DFA to stop the election process but they did not. That's why we formed an ad-hoc committee during the shutdown. We gave the delegation forms to the legal committee of Dilkusha SC," Shohag said. "Offering them money is a false allegation."

Shohag did not outright disagree when asked if the mitigation committee was illegal under the BFF constitution, but defended the decision by saying that they had formed a similar committee in the 2016 elections without raising question.

It was also learned that incumbent BFF vice-president Badal Roy and Mohiuddin Mohi wrote to FIFA secretary Fatma Samoura about the BFF's process of holding the elections amid a pandemic and requested that they look into the constitutional violation in forming the mitigation committee. Both Dilkusha SC and Dhaka DFA added that they are willing to take legal action to get justice.