BFF President’s statement for November

 

Greetings! Welcome to the briefing of November

BFF joins rally remembering the 7th March speech
It was with much pride and joy that we organised a rally from the federation to celebrate UNESCO’s recognition of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s historic Mar 7 speech as part of world memory. In many ways it was this fiery speech that had inspired the War of Independence. It was in the same spirit that the Shwadhin Bangla Football Team was formed by the government in exile in those tumultuous days of 1971.

AFC U19 Qualifiers
Despite a great overall performance, one small mistake cost us dearly. It is not meant to point fingers at anyone merely to remind everyone that in international competitions, the smallest of mistakes will make the difference. This only underscores further need of rigorous training and more international experience to hone the skills of our players and toughen their temperament.
The 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss could easily have been 2 wins and 2 draws or better yet 3 wins and 1 draw. I commend the team for its performance and am confident they will learn from this experience and bring pride for the country in future.

BFF AFC C coaching course
The federation held another round of C level AFC certification course with 24 more coaches in November bringing the total number of C level certified coaches to 96 this year alone. I am delighted that coaching courses have been progressing successfully under the auspices of BFF since better coaches lead to better trained and developed players who are eventually better able to cope with the demand of larger competitions.

BFF AFC A Part 1 coaching course
The first ever AFC certified A level coaching course was conducted with 24 senior coaches from around the country including BFF coaches, club coaches as well as local coaches outside Dhaka. This highest level of certification in domestic football will soon become a requirement for premier league clubs, meaning that they will be required to have a certified A level coach in order to participate in tournaments and competitions. BFF technical director Paul Smalley acted as the instructor. The second phase of this course will begin later in 2018.
This is another important step in line with the BFF’s coaching development pathway that will bring about world class football practice within Bangladesh and revive the strong footballing culture that we used to be proud of once upon a time.

FIFA MA Referee Instructor Course
The Bangladesh Football Federation successfully conducted FIFA MA Referee Instructor Course at the BFF House. With the participation of 28 of the best referees in the country, the the 3-day FIFA Member Association Referee Instructor Course was a huge success. FIFA officials Ravichandran Chappanimutu and Alan Snoddy conducted the course.

Saif Power Tec Third Division League
Saif Power Tec Third Division Football League of 2018 will kick off in January while the transfer window will start from the third week of December. The exact dates of the transfer window, fixture and other details will be announced in due time. Club officials need to send necessary details within 6th January, 2018.

Istanbul hosts FIFA Executive Football Summit
As part of the second round of FIFA Executive Football Summit, discussing the future of the game, the Bangladesh Football Federation took part at the summit in Istanbul on November 23, with the FIFA President Gianni Infantino leading the discussions. I attended the summit along with heads of several other national associations and FIFA officials and we debated about the future of FIFA’s youth and women’s competitions. We also discussed the FIFA Forward development programme and expressed out views to bring further improvement.

Bashundhara Kings become BCL champions

Bashundhara Kings, with 35 points from 18 games this season, have become champions of the Marcel Bangladesh Championship League. With the championship title, Bashundhara Kings have secured a spot for next season’s Bangladesh Premier League and with the least points, Karwanbazar Pragati Sangha have been relegated.