What this meant was that, in what was a pathetic episode that demeaned football in the country, the game's governing body rejected the service of someone like Salahuddin, the finest striker the country has ever produced, for a man (Amirul Islam Babu) who is far less than him in stature.

BFF general secretary Anwarul Haque Helal, who briefed the reporters after a marathon meeting, admitted that it was a great loss for the country's football but said that there was no alternative for them.

"No doubt his (Salahuddin) departure is a great loss for us. In the first occasion we had tried our level best but this time we reached the point of no return. The most painful fact is that the situation escalated into such a silly matter," said a visibly dejected Helal.

When he was asked whether it was BFF's lack of wisdom to miss Salahuddin's service for a controversial person like Babu, Helal declined to make any comments and elaborated the 'simple matter' behind the loss.

"What can I say, the EC (Executive Committee) is the supreme authority to take any decision regarding any thing," he said to defend his president's (SA Sultan) u-turn about the NTMC (National Team Management Committee)'s supremacy in selecting the team manager.

Helal informed that the meeting adopted a resolution condemning Salahuddin's remarks on the BFF president where the former national skipper had termed SA Sultan 'a complete liar'.

"Nobody opposed the resolution," he added. But BFF senior Vice-president Monir Ahmed and member Syeed Hasan Kanan later told that they protested the move.

"The next AGM which is scheduled to be held on September 9 would decide about the two vacant posts. The EC has given the NTMC job to the general secretary, deputy general secretary and assistant general secretary," Helal informed.

SA Sultan who has already become a laughing stock in the football fraternity for his senseless remarks initially expressed his reluctance meet the reporters after the meeting. But when he finally appeared, he came up with another amusing observation about the manager's role in the team.

"The post of manager in the football team is not a technical job. It's a managerial job," remarked Sultan.

Asked whether he was still dreaming of injecting new blood into the game languishing in doldrums without Salahuddin, he said that he was personally hurt by the departure of Salahuddin.

"I'm personally hurt by the outcome. But I am still hopeful about the improvement of the game," he said.

It should be noted in this regard that under his tutelage, Bangladesh has been suspended by FIFA, his committee had to almost resort to begging for a sponsor for last year's Premier Football and he failed to fulfil his commitment to arrange an international tournament (Prime Minister Cup) at the BNS.

And to top it all off, his committee even lacked the ability to pay the salary of the national coach.