Bangladesh Sports Press Association, the country’s oldest sports writers’ organization, has removed Bangladesh Football Federation head Kazi Salahuddin’s honorary membership, citing his disrespectful and nasty comment.
The decision was made in an emergency executive meeting, according to a BSPA press release signed by its general secretary MD Samon Hossain.
Salahuddin, a great footballer in the country’s history, caused a stir among journalists and countrymen on Tuesday when he made insulting remarks about journalists.
Before starting a press conference in front of the microphones he was heard saying to his BFF colleagues “If journalists want to enter here [BFF] they have to provide the photos of their fathers. The condition is they have to send a photo of their father wearing shoes. All right? It is mandatory. They have to have a photo of their father wearing shoes.”
The statements were captured in the device left by the journalists, and Salahuddin apologized following the massive outrage in response to the news. The BFF president, who is already under pressure to have FIFA investigate the wrongdoing, claimed he was unaware of the recording devices and was laughing with vice president Kazi Nabil Ahmed. The recording then revealed that Nabil was also making offensive remarks.
By denouncing the remarks of the two BFF officials, BSPA stated that such attacks on journalists and their families are inappropriate and removed Salahuddin’s honorary membership, which he received in 2012 when he became BFF president.
Last December, the BSPA honored the ten best sports personnel in Bangladesh history, with Salahuddin coming in second behind cricketer Shakib al Hasan. However, BFF returned the prize, citing it as a disgrace to its president.
FIFA banned BFF secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag on 14 April this year for corruption and providing fraudulent purchase paperwork. BFF and Salahuddin, who stated there was no corruption in the organization, have yet to share the results of their own probe.
