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FAs legalised

Sports Reporter
As expected, the councillors of the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) yesterday approved the amendments in the BFF constitution.
The present 115 councillors out of total 131, in fact, had 'no other way' but to endorse formation of the Football Associations (FAs) in districts and divisions and have an entire paid secretariat at the governing body of the game according to FIFA and AFC guidelines in the extraordinary general meeting at the BFF Bhaban.
With the new statutes approved, the BFF will now face no legal problem to hold the election of the new executive committee on April 28, a year after the incumbent EC expired.
In the new statutes, DFA will replace DSA in the BFF constitution.
The BFF constitution earlier could not permit the polls through councillors of the recently formed DFAs in line with FIFA and AFC guidelines as the constitution only permitted the delegates of the District Sports Association (DSA).
The FIFA has been very keen to free the football bodies off all government control and the EGM confirmed that four services teams
— Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Navy, Bangladesh Air Force and Bangladesh Police -- will lose their voting rights despite holding the councillorships.
The National Sports Council and the two top teams of the Dhaka Pioneer Football league also lose their voting rights but the universities and education boards will survive provided they have footballing activities.
As per FIFA directives, the entire staff of the BFF secretariat comprising of the general secretary, a deputy general secretary, two joint secretaries and the treasurer would be paid from now on.
There will be no voting for those five posts but the proposal to increase the number of the members from 10 to 15 in a 21-man executive body also got the vote of confidence.
The executive committee will determine the salary of the secretariat staff.
Although AFC general secretary Paul Mony, who attended the EGM. said he was pleased to see the councillors unanimously approving the amendments, local organisers were not all too happy. AFC Legal Services director Charmaine Pereira was also present.
"The EGM was a designed meeting and we were not given chances to discuss these matters and it would harm football rather than helping it,” said former BFF joint
secretary and ex-national captain Badal Roy.
"How could a councillor give his opinion when the AFC observer said that there is no alternative but to approve the amendments, otherwise Bangladesh face suspension," questioned star striker of the yesteryears Sheikh Mohammad Aslam.
"Why a government councillor would join the AGM or EGM if he does not have the voting right," Aslam, a councillor of National Sports Council, asked.
BFF president SA Sultan, however, was dismissive of the allegations.
"It's not true that the delegates could not speak in the meeting. Actually we have nothing to do when the AFC and FIFA tell us to implement the statutes," Sultan said.
"The FIFA and AFC have been working for a universal statute for all football nations and we can't go beyond their advice.
"The services teams and NSC are government organisations and there might be influence in the polls. That is why those bodies have been given the right of sending delegates but no rights to vote. It is also the prescription of the FIFA andAFC."
"It is really funny the way the amendments have been made. How can the DFAs, actually formed
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earlier, get the validity as the EGM only approved them today?" questioned councillor Fazlur Rahman Babul.
In all, 56 district FAs out of 64 and four divisional FAs out of six have been formed.
Only this year, the representatives of the district FAs would be able to vote but in the next election, only the divisional FAs will have voting rights.
The BFF, meanwhile, will finalise the election schedules in an emergency meeting today.