The committee assigned to investigate the Bangladesh national football team’s debacle at the recent SAFF Championship interviewed three assistant coaches on its first day of work on Wednesday. The three-member committee, lead by Bangladesh Football Federation vice-president Badal Roy, revealed on Wednesday that it had unearthed errors regarding some of the players’ fitness and injuries that took their toll on the national side during the tournament.
‘We talked with fitness coach [Mohammet Yamali] and received some feedback from him. We got information about some injured players, who continued playing by hiding their injuries,’ said Badal.
‘It also mentionable that most of the key players received injuries in the eleventh hour, so it was not possible to replace them in the last minute,’ he added.
‘However, after speaking with the players we will know the full extent of their injuries and fitness condition during the course of the tournament,’ he said.
Badal also questioned the seriousness of national captain Mamunul Islam’s knee injury, which kept the skipper out of the opening game against hosts Nepal. Mamunul played his first game of the tournament as a substitute in Bangladesh’s second game against India.
‘Maybe the players failed to recover properly before the start of the tournament. The fitness coach told us about Mamunul and that his injury was not harmful. [Yamali] also told us that Mamunul was certainly playable from the beginning,’ said Badal, adding, ‘but when he did not recover fully then he blamed luck.’
‘We also asked the fitness coach about the players who appeared fatigued. We also asked why the team suffered from a lack of fitness,’ he added.
Meanwhile, fact-finding committee member Shamsul Haque Chowdhury said that they were trying to find out the attitude of the players during the regional football competition.
‘Did anybody play saving their bodies, keeping in mind the upcoming football season? We will also try to find out this possibility. Due to the forthcoming football season, maybe somebody tried to ensure they remain injury-free,’ said Shamsul.
The committee has already interviewed goalkeeping coach Cornelius Kees Kalk, assistant coach Syed Golam Jilani and team leader Sheikh Mohammed Maruf Hasan.
The committee will interview four senior players – Mamunul, Waly Faisal, Zahid Hasan Ameli and Atiqur Rahman Meshu – today.
-With New Age input
