Kazi Salahuddin and his circus of absurdity

What would you call a man who has failed to deliver on his promises for years, who engages in petty ego battles, deflects any and every accusation made against him, blames anyone and everyone for his shortcomings and also bad mouths other people who are just doing their jobs?

Arrogant, narcissist, egotist, delusional and such words can be used to describe such a person. But in the context of Bangladesh football, that's the term some are using for Kazi Salahuddin.

Kazi Salahuddin has been at the receiving end of flak for much of his 14-year spell as the president of the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF), and for good reason.

The national men’s team’s nose dive in FIFA rankings during his tenure is well documented and doesn’t need to be divulged any further.

The public interest on domestic football has continued waning and no notable progress has been made at the grassroots.

The women’s team’s success at age-level and national level has been the only saving grace for Salahuddin and his administration.

But Salahuddin and his motley crew successfully flipped the public opinion on that front as well when they failed to send the national women’s team for Olympic qualifiers due to ‘financial constraints’.

An earful from the sports minister, a ban from FIFA and even a scolding from the Bangladesh prime minister has so far proved insufficient as Salahuddin and his chums seem determined to push the boundaries of absurdity.

But Salahuddin’s latest incident crossed all limits of decency. The BFF head honcho ‘jokingly’ told BFF vice-president Kazi Nabil Ahmed before a press conference that from now on, journalists would have to show a photo of their father wearing shoes before entering the BFF headquarters.

The journalists had placed their phones in front of Salahuddin with recorder turned on, like they do before every press conference. Those phones recorded up that statement from Salahuddin and caused another media storm for the BHH head honcho.

Salahuddin later issued an apology, claiming it was a ‘joke’ between him and Nabil, and it wasn’t meant for others ears.

In that statement, Salahuddin didn’t explain exactly which part of that statement was funny. But saying a derogatory statement towards journalists while being in a room full of journalists and having their recording devices placed right in front of him indicates a severe lack in common sense.

Salahuddin had earlier told the press that bad media coverage was one of the reasons why no company was willing to sponsor the women’s team’s trip to Myanmar for the Olympic qualifiers.

However, state minister for youth and sports Zahid Ahsan Russel categorically proved that BFF had no intention of sending the team to Myanmar.

He revealed that BFF informed the sports ministry for the need of funds at the very last minute and then declared that the team won’t take part in the qualifiers a couple of days before the deadline, without waiting for the ministry’s reply.

Salahuddin, inexplicably, also attacked the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Nazmul Hassan for speaking with prime minister Sheikh Hasina on the phone during the national team’s cricket match, saying he can’t just ring up the PM like Nazmul.

The BCB president retorted, telling the press that BFF’s claim of not getting a sponsor is not believable. He claimed that media owners, corporations and even the national team cricketers could’ve all chipped in to come up with the required funds.

This wasn’t even the only time this year that Salahuddin began an ego fight with a cricket-related personnel.

Salahuddin was honoured as the second greatest sportsperson in Bangladesh history by Bangladesh Sports Press Association (BSPA) on 30 December 2022, behind all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan.

At the event, Salahuddin had claimed that as a sportsperson, he wouldn’t mind to lose the top prize to Shakib or anyone else for that matter and that he would take the decision ‘sportingly’.

But just a couple of days later, BFF rejected the honour given to Salahuddin in a press release after an executive committee meeting, saying that BSPA has insulted its president.

Can BFF, a federation, reject an individual award given to its president for his playing days, is the first logical question that comes to mind, followed by the second hand embarrassment for Salahuddin, whose attempt to hide behind his federation and express his displeasure indirectly ended up being so blatantly obvious.

Still, the ongoing media storm or the scathing comments from the sports minister is lower in the list of emergencies for the federation.

Their current biggest issue is the two-year FIFA ban imposed on its now former general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag for discrepancies in financial activities.

The federation first denied any corruption, Salahuddin said the ban on Shohag was unfortunate, before banishing him from the BFF.

The BFF then formed a 10-member committee to investigate the charges and file a report in 30 days.

Two weeks have passed since then and the biggest development in the investigation so far has been two members of the committee withdrawing for personal reasons.

Although Salahuddin wasn’t directly accused of corruption in the FIFA investigation, it was evident that under his presidency financial foul play has taken place and as the president, he must take responsibility.

Salahuddin has already blamed the media, the sponsors, fellow sports bodies and the ministry for his shortcomings as the BFF president.

At this rate, very soon he will run out of people to blame and then maybe he would have no option but to actually look in the mirror.