Kazi Salahuddin retained his position as the most important figure in country’s football, after getting elected as Bangladesh Football Federation president for the fourth consecutive time in the BFF election on Saturday.
Salahuddin comprehensively defeated rivals Badal Roy and Shafiqul Islam Manik, as the heavy criticisms made against him by the country’s football fraternity leading up to the election had no actual effect in the election.
Salahuddin got 94 votes while former national team footballer and de-facto candidate Badal got 40 votes and independent candidate Manik got only one vote.
A total of 47 candidates contested in the elections against 21 posts – one president, one senior vice-president, four vice-presidents and 15 members – where 135 councillors’ exercised their voting rights out of 139.
The voting took place at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in the capital after the Annual General Meeting of the federation.
Four councillors – Chattogram Abahani Limited vice-president Tarafder Ruhul Amin, Faridpur District Football Association president Nazmul Islam Khandaker Levi, Sheikh Russell director Maksudur Rahman and Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club Limited chairman Safwan Sobhan Tasvir – did not cast their votes.
In other posts, Abdus Salam Murshedy got 91 votes to be elected as senior vice-president for the fourth consecutive time, running from the Salahuddin-led ‘Combined Panel’, while his rival former national team striker Sheikh Mohammad Aslam got 44 votes.
Salahuddin-led ‘Combined Panel’ also secured majority of the vice-president’s post, with three of their candidates winning.
Two new faces, Bashundhara Kings club president Imrul Hassan and Ataur Rahman Bhuiyan Manik got elected with 89 and 75 votes respectively while Kazi Nabil Ahmed retained his vice-president’s post with 81 votes.
For the fourth vice-president post, independent candidate Tabith Awal and ‘Integrated Panel’ candidate Mohiuddin Ahmed tied with 65 votes and BFF election commission will hold another election on October 31 to break the tie.
‘We will hold another election to break the tie between Mohiuddin and Tabith on October 31,’ said chief election commissioner Mejbah Uddin.
In his immediate reaction, Tabith accepted the outcome and looked forward to the re-election.
‘I hope I will win the election but I would not undermine my opponent candidate Mohiuddin bhai.’ Tabith said.
Salahuddin-led panel candidate Amirul Islam Babu, ‘Integrated Panel’ candidate SM Abdullah Al Fuad and Sheikh Mohammad Maruf Hasan didn’t get elected as vice-presidents, getting 56, 48 and 61 votes respectively.
At the time of writing this report, the names of the 15 general members were yet to be announced as their votes were still being counted. -new age
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