BFF appoints Gerard Jones as youth development coach

The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has appointed 36-year-old British coach Gerard Jones as its new youth development coach on a two-year contract, with the responsibility of overseeing all age-group national teams.

The appointment was finalised at a meeting of the BFF Development Committee on Saturday, ending a lengthy recruitment process that saw the federation receive applications from '115 coaches' around the world.

Explaining the selection process, Development Committee member Sameed Quasem said he, BFF Technical Director and School Committee chairman Sartaj Bhuiyan initially shortlisted 18 candidates based on their qualifications and experience.

“We then conducted detailed interviews with five candidates after assessing them under various criteria. Following the interviews, we submitted the final list to BFF president and Development Committee chairman Nasser Shahriar Zahedee. We ranked the five candidates from one to five considering salary and other aspects. The top-ranked candidate was offered the job, and once he accepted the offer, there was no need to approach the others,” Quasem said.

Jones joins BFF from Vietnamese club Visakha, where he worked as a coach. He previously served as Director of Coaching in Kansas City in the United States and also worked as a coaching educator for the United States Soccer Federation and the Morocco Football Federation, Quazem said.

Quasem said Jones was selected due to his UEFA A Licence and extensive experience in grassroots football development.

“He is expected to arrive in Bangladesh in the first week of July. Once he arrives, we will begin preparations for the AFC Under-20 tournament qualifiers,” Quasem added.