Salahuddin says sorry for SAFF failure

Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) president Kazi Salahuddin on Tuesday apologised to the nation to shoulder the blame for Bangladesh’s early exit from the SAFF Suzuki Cup football tournament.
Kazi Salahuddin offered the apology while addressing the official draw ceremony of the 2016 Bangabandhu Gold Cup.
“This is a very sad day for us. Bangladesh has failed to succeed in the SAFF. I, on behalf of the BFF, apologised to the people of the country for this,” said the BFF president.
Bangladesh football team have suffered an early exit from the SAFF championship.
After a humiliating 0-4 defeat against Afghanistan in the opener, Mamunul Islam and his men were outplayed 1-3 by the Maldives in their second match on Saturday.
Thus, Bangladesh had bowed out from the group phase of the biennial tournament.
Despite having disappointments, Kazi Salahuddin said, he is still hopeful of Bangladesh football. And, recent performances of U-16 and U-19 are giving him a ray of hope.
However, the BFF president, at the same time, is worried about the performance of the national team and turnout of spectators in the upcoming Bangabandhu Gold Cup.
“It’ll certainly be a challenge for us to draw spectators. The only way of getting rid of this fear is performance and we have to focus on this,” said the BFF boss.