Former Bangladesh Football Federation vice-president Tabith Awal, one of two candidates running for the presidential post in Saturday鈥檚 BFF elections, believes he is the best person to lead the federation.
Tabith, a well-known figure in the country鈥檚 football community, a seasoned businessman, and an active member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, previously served as BFF vice-president for two terms, in 2012 and 2016.
聽鈥業 consider myself a responsible and passionate person for football. I鈥檓 futuristic and forward-looking, and I believe I鈥檓 the fittest candidate for the BFF鈥檚 president post,鈥� Tabith, who started football in 1995 as a first-division player for Dhanmondi Club before playing in the now defunct Dhaka League for more than a decade, told 抖阴精品.聽
The 45-year-old George Washington University graduate is aiming to bring comprehensive reforms to the country鈥檚 football, with a focus on transparency, ethics, and eliminating corruption from the federation.
鈥業 treat the football fraternity as part of my family... In this election, I would prefer to go ahead with this identity,鈥� said Tabith, who lost the Dhaka North City Corporation election in 2020.聽
Tabith also promised to resurrect the entire BFF constitution. He also underlined the need of maintaining high ethical standards and ensuring that the federation is free of corruption and political influence in the future.
鈥楩rom 2015 to 2020, I was simultaneously involved in party politics and BFF. 聽I handled many issues of BFF without any political biases. I never intertwined politics and football activities negatively. I will maintain it in the same ways in the future,鈥� said the founder and president of the NoFel Sporting Club.
鈥業t is clear that the entire constitution has been ineffective [backdated]. We will form a new constitution to ensure transparency and accountability and keep the federation free from corruption.
鈥榃e will take necessary steps to bring about change and want to ensure a professional environment for media workers. We won鈥檛 deprive the media workers of the right to information.
鈥楻esources鈥攆unds, coaches, referees, balls, kits, residential facilities, etcetera鈥攁llocations will be prioritised based on necessity in the country鈥檚 respective areas.鈥�
He also vowed to engage the government, businessmen, and local enthusiasts for the development of the country鈥檚 grassroots football.
鈥業 am committed to reviving grassroots-level football competitions by engaging all available local stakeholders, including government officials, NGOs, and locally recognised football enthusiasts.鈥櫬�
鈥楾his inclusive approach will keep the doors open for all sector organisations and organisers to come forward,鈥� he added.
