Bangladesh football coach Nikola Ilievski on Wednesday said he had to resign for treatment of one of his old complications but not for Bangladesh’s poor performance in the recently-concluded SAFF Championship.
The coach, who was heavily criticised for Bangladesh’s elimination from the first round of the SAFF Championship in New Delhi earlier this month, resigned his post on Tuesday.
But the coach at a press conference at the BFF Bhaban said Bangladesh football team’s poor performance in Delhi is not the reason for his resignation but he needs to undergo surgery on his knee that prompted him to quit the job.
‘I have a very old problem in my right knee which needs an operation very soon. At first I thought to take a one-month leave but later realised one month will not be enough to complete the whole process,’ said Ilievski.
Ilievski’s contract with the BFF was supposed to end in May 2012 but the coach said he needs at least three months’ time for the treatment and he would not get enough time to work with the team in that case and thus he decided to resign.
The BFF’s national team management committee chairman Badal Roy, on the other hand, said they were thinking to make a final decision on the coach’s fate after Bangladesh’s terrible performance in New Delhi.
The NTMC was gathering reports from the team members and officials about the poor performance and the coach resigned himself making the job easier for them. The coach failed to bring us a deserved result despite enjoying full freedom and co-operation from the management. We were deciding whether we are going to continue with him or not when he resigned,’ said Badal.
The coach, however, said he is happy to see such a good ending rather than leaving after bickering with the BFF officials which is a common feature in this federation. He also gave some advice to the organisers for the betterment of the country’s football.
‘I am very happy to leave in a good way. Bangladesh has some good players. I think the federation should select some under-21 players from the upcoming league and groom them for the next international engagement,’ said Ilievski.
Bangladesh have no international assignments for nearly six months before the SA Games in India in late 2012 and thus the BFF will take some time to chose their next coach, informed Badal.
-With New Age input
