Tarafder Ruhul Amin announces BFF presidency bid

About 24 hours after Kazi Salahuddin's decision to not run for presidency in the upcoming Bangladesh Football Federation elections, Tarafder Ruhul Amin has catapulted himself as a candidate for the top post in October 26 elections.

It was the first footballing interaction on a public platform for the industrialist-turned-sports-organiser, who had apparently wiped his hands off his footballing ambitions after not running for the same post in BFF's last elections in 2020. 

Amin's name was formally proposed by Ali Imam Topon, a former president of Bangladesh Athletics Federation, during a press conference at a hotel in the capital on Sunday under the banner of "declaration of president candidate in Bangladesh Football Federation elections with consensus."

"Tarafder Ruhul Amin is being announced as the presidential candidate on behalf of the districts and clubs. The Football Federation did not help running the leagues at district level. It was his assistance that helped holding the league at district level," Topon said in his speech.

Former star footballers Shafiqul Islam Manik, Syed Rumman bin Wali Sabbir and others were on the stage while Bangladesh Nationalist Party's sports secretary Aminul Haque, a BNP leader and vocal force in protests against Salahuddin, was also present among others at the event.

Amin is a well-known figure in sports, having been actively involved with football and chess since 2015. He had made generous investments in district leagues and lower-division clubs of Dhaka during Salahuddin's third term at BFF. He was also the chairman of now-defunct Saif Sporting Club and was the vice-president of Chittagong Abahani. However, his football ambitions took a hit when he abruptly quit the race for BFF's presidency in 2020 elections, allegedly under pressure from higher quarters, despite having done a great deal of groundwork in his bid to unseat Salahuddin.

Accepting the proposal to stand for presidency, Amin said he wants to revive the country's flagging footballing scene.

"I don't want to give any false promise by saying I want to take Bangladesh to any specific ranking," Amin said in reply to a question. "Football has no structure in the country now. We had worked about the franchise league previously and I promise I would introduce franchise league (if elected)."

"I would take football to rural areas, not keeping it confined within the BFF House in Motijheel. I will create a new awakening. I will also tell you what I will do in four years," Amin added.

Explaining the obstacles in his work with district leagues at the BFF, Amin said: "We have done a lot of work on football since 2015-16. We have done the district league under the banner of Saif Powertech. We have provided a lot of players despite the odds. But football federation never wanted us to work with football," Amin alleged, adding that he is confident of winning the elections if a level playing field is ensured.

The BFF elections are scheduled to take place on October 26. No schedule for the elections has been announced by the BFF yet.

While several BNP leaders including Aminul Haque and Khairul Kabir Khokon have thrown their weight behind Amin, Tabith Awal, another BNP leader and former vice-president of BFF, is believed to be a strong candidate for the top position in Bangladesh football.