BFF President Tabith Awal is the president of Nofel Sporting Club. The club has been playing in the Championship League, the second tier of the Bangladesh Premier League, for half a century. Nofel did not participate in the Championship League after Tabith became the BFF president. February 23 was the last day for team transfers. At that time, only 7 out of 11 clubs completed the registration process. This forced the federation to extend the transfer period until noon today. Although Little Friends, Arambagh Krira Sangha and Farashganj made transfers during the extended period, President Tabith’s club Nofel Sporting did not.
Nofel Sporting Club General Secretary Sakhawat Hossain Bhuiyan Shaheen said regarding the non-reshuffle, “I had initial discussions with the players and coaches. The reshuffle involves financial issues. I did not receive any instructions from the president in this regard. Therefore, the reshuffle process could not be completed.”
The president of this club is himself the president of the Bangladesh Football Federation. Despite being the president of the Bangladesh Football Federation, attempts were made to contact Tabith Awal to find out why his team did not participate this time, but no comment or response was received from him.
A football team has at least 20 or more footballers. There are also a few coaching staff. If a club does not participate in the league, the livelihood of that footballer and coaching staff is lost. It is extremely unprofessional for a club to not participate in the transfer at the last minute by licensing and demanding an extension of the transfer time. When the president’s club behaves like this, it is absurd to expect constructive behavior from other clubs in the BFF. According to the decision of the Football Federation’s executive committee meeting, if any club does not participate in the transfer, it will not be able to do club licensing for the next three years. As a result, Nofel Sporting has no chance to play at the championship league level in domestic football for the next three years.
Nofel Sporting Club was born on April 17, 2017. Tabith Awal has been the club’s president since its inception and Sakhawat Hossain Bhuiyan Shaheen is the general secretary. Although Nofel has regularly participated in the BCL in the past, this time, despite being the president of the federation, it has drawn severe criticism in the football community for not participating. The question of how safe the country’s football is in the hands of a club that could not protect it has been raised in the football world.
The media also has many questions about Nofel Sporting’s decision to play. No explanation has been received from the club president. Even as the federation president, he does not face the media much. When the media asks him about certain issues, his answer is ‘no comments’. If the highest person in the country’s highest football organization remains silent, then who will satisfy the curiosity/inquiries of all football fans?