‘Nothing could be more shameful’

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan expressed disbelief at the Bangladesh Football Federation’s (BFF) failure to send the national women’s football team to the Olympics qualifiers due to financial constraints.

“This is very unfortunate. It couldn’t have been anymore disgraceful for the country,” Nazmul said this after Bangladesh’s one-off Test against Ireland ended at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on Friday.

“The country is progressing, our economy is progressing, the entire world agrees. But we are saying that for just Tk two million (BFF claimed Tk six million) our girls are not getting to take part in the pre-Olympics! Nothing could be more shameful than that.”

A few days back, BFF president Kazi Salahuddin said in a press conference, “Papon (Nazmul) phones the prime minister. I can’t, because I don’t come from that background. I can’t do all that drama.”

The BCB president retorted to Salahuddin’s statement by saying, “When the honourable prime minister calls, no matter where I am or what situation I am in, I will definitely pick up that call. I don’t know why he had to bring that up. I don’t want to comment on it.”

He then added, “I think the problem lies with you (the journalists), why did you have to ask that question? You inquired about the accounts, what they did with the money; why did you have to ask such questions? Everybody knows, he (Salahuddin) would lose his temper to such questions, everyone knows that. Why do you still ask these questions?”