Sports desk: Question: Did you want to return as president?
Tabith Awal: Can actually tell fortunes. I lost the election four years ago. There were and are complaints about that. That's not really the point.

tabith

But that day I decided to return to Bangladesh Football Federation for sure. But next time I will return as president. There were two reasons for this; One was, I was vice-president twice in Buffe elections.
If I had won it would have been three times.

I had enough experience. But I could not work as I thought. So I thought, if I don't become the president next time, I won't be able to do those things. Some kind of stubbornness worked towards the end.

Question: How much thrill, how much pressure or challenge do you feel in this new responsibility?

Tabith Awal: There are thrills, emotions are working. It seems that I am going back to my house after a long time. From that place there is thrill, there is emotion. Fear is also working positively.

I have passed the straight time or the stressful time, I mean the election time. After the election, the responsibility begins. Those who elected me are expecting me. I wish I could take football to a place. Now I have to fulfill that responsibility.

Question: You will lead the football, how is your philosophy as a leader?

Tabith Awal : There is a saying, if you want to go loud, it is better to go alone, and if you want to go far, it is better to take everyone. I will try to make a long journey with everyone. Another will come after me. That person can take football further from there. We want to elevate football. 211 countries play here. We have to compete with them to advance in the ranking. Then suppose the boys win outright. These expectations are there. It is time for us to fulfill it.

Question: Kazi Salahuddin was a superstar. He had high expectations. You are young, modern. Do you feel that the expectations of the young generation are sky high?

Tabith Awal: The world of football is changing. Today's football depends on technology. Analyzing video of matches like in Europe, collecting different data during matches and making decisions—I think I am ready and I have enough experience in these areas. I'm ready to run football where it's supposed to go today. Asia is now gaining considerable importance in football. The way Asian football is progressing now, Bangladesh will also have to fight at the Asian level.

Question: You know where football in the country came from. Popularity decreased, ranking decreased. What plan to turn around from here?

Tabith Awal: I still don't think football has lost its popularity. I think that popularity is not visible because some clubs are not doing well and individual players have not become stars. But if you look generally, many viewers are watching European football regularly from Bangladesh. When we played friendlies earlier in Sylhet, many spectators came to the ground. And now many have gone to Nepal to watch girls' football. Spectators want to see a good game and understand that it was a good match, not a wasted one. These places of trust must be created. Spectators are spectators, now they will sit at home or come to the field to watch the game. Second, what have we done for the audience? We have not kept the environment to watch the game at all. When a spectator wants to watch a game, he can't guarantee transportation to the stadium, all the facilities in the stadium. I believe, the environment of football needs to change. And thirdly, technology. Spectators cannot watch the game online. What if you don't show the match live, don't stream it online, don't replay it after live? The audience wants to see this. Hopefully, our new committee will spend a lot of time on these issues. Will work for broadcasting on TV and Digital. I believe, if you can promote the game, the audience will watch the game and engage with the game.

Question: You talked about many facilities of club football, but our domestic football does not have that. In the case of clubs, what will Buff do?

Tabith Awal: First, the clubs need to be given a lot of support, not the financial aspect. Clubs produce players. When they transfer that player but don't get the money they expected, the next player gets frustrated. Rather than buying ready-made players and playing. What we will do from Buffe is to make sure that when we create new players, they can sell them and they will benefit financially. The second is to fix the merchandising of the clubs. Now if you go to buy a club jersey, you will not be able to tell which one is original and which one is fake. So we clubs are arranging this merchandising based on the framework of the law. Apart from this, the clubs have to find out the source of income through tickets. Football cannot be improved until it can be done with a business mind.

Question: Bafufe should also think about the source of income?

Tabith Awal: I think the main challenge is to gain trust. At the end of the day football is a product. One entertainment space, another personal space. If we can combine passion, pride and trust, the funds will flow. Because, if you play well, the sponsors will come.

Q: In 2022, the girls could not qualify for the Olympics due to lack of money. You have to change these things.

Tabith Awal: As we said, we don't see what happened in the past. Thinking about what to do next. If our girls and boys can perform well on the field, both branding and brand value will increase with this reputation. Another thing is to collect. The responsibility is on me. Collect from the government, collect from FIFA or collect from a sponsor; That's up to me. It takes skill to collect. I believe most of our committee have that skill, that is to provide money. We feel that if we work then the financial shortage will also be removed.

Q: He went to South Korea for the AFC program as the president. How was the experience?

Tabith Awal: The experience there is to realize how other countries are moving forward, and we are not able to move forward in some places. There is no shame here. Bhutan is also far ahead in performance than us. Nepal received the Grassroots Award. They are collecting various fields, collecting funds. From that place I see what we have to do. We have more resources than them in many areas. We could not use them. I hope in the coming days, I will be able to use these properly.

Q: Last year, the former general secretary of Buff was banned by FIFA for financial irregularities. How negative is it for us on the world stage and do you see the need for us to get out of this place?

Tabith Awal: See, many times we get caught up in one or two unpleasant incidents. The brand ambassador in the world of football is now the victorious women's team. Especially, from the places where they came up and presented the flag of Bangladesh to the world, that is our reputation abroad, that is our recognition. These girls are now getting offers to play in Europe. These are our positive areas.

Question: What is the plan to activate football in the district?

Tabith Awal: It must be played in the district. We are committed to not only league but also two tournaments at U-15 and U-17 level. We will encourage districts and be stricter if necessary. But there must be football in the district.

Question: Where do you want to see football at the end of four years?

Tabith Awal: Answering such questions is a bit difficult. Regardless of the ranking, it should take us to a respectable place. I want continuity of quality of play. Lose will win. When Bangladesh plays, the audience should know what means Bangladesh will play. We want to make sure of that. Apart from that I will touch on some technical issues. As expected, scoring in the last 10 minutes. It involves players' fitness, temperament. I will try not to have any shortage in such places. Apart from that, if the game is played, there will be spectators in the stadium, that is the expectation. If the game is played, there will be media, social media rights, there will be income opportunities from there. I want to go through these places.

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Question: The girls who won Safavi have expressed a lot of demands, I would like to know your opinion on that.

Tabith Awal: I will talk to them directly about this. Our women's team has carved a niche for themselves. But no one gave them such facilities. Coming from remote villages, these girls of ours have brought fame to the country. Not only that, they brought a social change through football. They have won many things on and off the field. They should get enough respect for that. They have to get it from Buffe, they have to get it from the state. Just as it is our responsibility to do something for them from Bafufe, it is also our committee's responsibility to collect something from the state. We will be vocal in those areas. And we want to show such exemplary activities, so that future generations get encouragement, boys get it as well as girls get it.