# Bangladesh Football Federation

Bangladesh Football Federation (Bengali: বাংলাদেশ ফুটবল ফেডারেশন, Bānglādesh fūṭbôl fēḍārēshôn) is the governing body that administers the sport of association football in Bangladesh. It is in charge of running the country's men's and women's national teams, as well as the Bangladesh Premier League and various other competitions and tournaments. The BFF was one of founding members of the South Asian Football Federation. It's office is based at the BFF Bhaban, in Motijheel Thana of the country's capital, Dhaka.

## History

The Bangladesh Football Federation was founded on 15 July 1972 by Md. Yousuf Ali, the country's former Minister for Education, Culture and Sport; the general secretary under Ali was Abul Hashem of Wari Club.
It became affiliated with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 1973, and FIFA in 1976. It is also a founding member of South Asian Football Federation. Bangladesh has been elected to be part of the AFC Executive Committee for two four-year terms: in 1982–1986 and 1998–2002. Hafizuddin Ahmed was elected vice-president of the AFC for the term from 1990 to 1994.
After Bangladesh gained independence in the early 1970s, the BFF assumed responsibility for the Dhaka League including its First Division, which had begun in 1948. The league resumed for the 1973 season. It was eventually replaced by a Premier Division in 1993, but has since been superseded by the professional football league, the Bangladesh Premier League (founded in 2007 as the B.League) and the Bangladesh Championship League (in 2012), and now exists only as a regional league at the third tier of the nation's football league pyramid.
In 1980, the Federation started the Federation Cup, which grew to be the country's top national cup competition.
On April 10, 2005, AFC President Mohammed bin Hammam inaugurated the BFF Bhaban, the Federation's FIFA-financed office.
In 2009, it launched the Super Cup tournament, which ran in 2009, 2011 and 2013. In 2013, the prize money for winning the competition was Tk10 million. In the inaugural competition, Mohammedan SC beat arch-rivals Abahani Limited Dhaka.

## Executive committee
### Board of directors

    As of November 2024
| Name | Position |
| Tabith Mohammed Awal | President |
| Imrul Hasan | Senior Vice-president |
| Nasser Shahrear Zahedee | 2nd Vice-president |
| Wahid Uddin Chowdhury Happy | 3rd Vice-president |
| Sabbir Ahmed Arif | 4th Vice-president |
| Fahad Mohammed Ahmed Karim | 5th Vice-president |
| Imran Hossain Tushar | General Secretary |
| Saiful Bari Titu | Technical Director |
| Javier Cabrera | Team Coach (Men's) |
| Peter Butler | Team Coach (Women's) |

### Presidents

| President | Took office | Left office |
| Muhammad Yusuf Ali | 1972 | 1973 |
| Gazi Golam Mostafa | 1973 | 1976 |
| Mir Shawkat Ali | 1976 | 1978 |
| Siddique Ahmed | 1978 | 1980 |
| Abdur Raquib Khandaker | 1980 | 1986 |
| Harun Ahmed Chowdhury | 1986 | 1986 |
| Hafizuddin Ahmed | 1986 | 1989 |
| Mahmudul Hasan | 1989 | 1992 |
| Oli Ahmad | 1992 | 1994 |
| Mohammad Hanif | 1996 | 2001 |
| AM Azizul Haque | 2001 | 2001 |
| SA Sultan | 2001 | 2008 |
| Kazi Salahuddin | 2008 | 2024 |
| Tabith Awal | 2024 | Present |

### Technical director

| President | Took office | Left office |
| Shahidur Rahman Shantoo | 2008 | 2010 |
| Bayazid Alam Zubair Nipu | 2010 | 2015 |
| Paul Smalley | 2016 | 2019 |
| Stuart Watkiss | 2020 | 2020 |
| Paul Smalley | 2020 | 2023 |
| Saiful Bari Titu | 2024 | Present |

## Competitions
### Man's club competitions

    As of August 2023
Competitions currently run by BFF:
| Competition | First season | Current champion | Remarks |
| Bangladesh Premier League | 2007 | Bashundhara Kings | The country's top tier football league. |
| Federation Cup | 1980 | Mohammedan SC | The country's top tier leagues cup competition. |
| Independence Cup | 1972 | Bashundhara Kings | The country's national cup competition. |
| Challenge Cup | 2024 | Bashundhara kings | The country's super cup competition. |
| Bangladesh Championship League | 2012 | Brothers Union | The country's 2nd tier football league. |
| Senior Division League | 1948 | Somaj Kallyan KS Mugda | The country's 3rd tier football league. |
| Second Division League | 1948 | Saif SC Youth Team | The country's 4th tier football league. |
| Third Division League | 1948 | Chawkbazar Kings | The country's 5th tier football league. |
| Pioneer Football League | 1981 | Barishal Football Academy | The country's 6th tier football league. |
| BFF U-18 Football Tournament | 2014 | NoFeL Sporting Club U-18 | The country's U-18 club football tournament. |
| BFF U-18 Football League | 2021–22 | Sheikh Jamal DC U-18 | The country's top tier U-18 football league. |
| BFF U-16 Football Tournament | 2021–22 | Kawran Bazar PS U-16 | The country's U-16 football tournament. |

### Other competitions

    As of October 2022
Competitions currently run by BFF:
| Competition | First Season | Current Champion | Remarks |
| Bangabandhu Cup | 1996–97 | Palestine | International football tournament. |
| Bangamata U-19 Women's International Gold Cup | 2019 | Bangladesh & Laos | International U-19 Women's football tournament. |
| Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup | 2015 | Terengganu F.C. | International clubs football tournament. |
| Sheikh Russel U-18 Gold Cup | 2021–22 | Wari Thana | The country's Metropolis Thanas football competition |
| National Football Championship | 1973 | Bangladesh Army | District and institutional cup tournament. |
| Bangladesh Women's Football League | 2011 | Bashundhara Kings | The country's women's professional clubs football league. |

### Defunct

    As of June 2023
Competitions previously run by BFF:
| Competition | First Season | Last Season | Last Champion | Remarks |
| Aga Khan Cup | 1958 | 1981–82 | Bangkok Bank F.C. and Brothers Union [Shared after 1–1 draw] | Continental club competition last held in 1982. |
| President's Gold Cup | 1981 | 1993 | Petrolul Ploiești | International football tournament. |
| First Division League | 1993 | 2004–05 | Rahmatganj MFS | 2nd tier semi-professional football league last held in 2005. |
| National Football League | 2000 | 2006 | Mohammedan SC | The country's first semi-professional national league last held in 2006. |
| Super Cup | 2009 | 2013 | Mohammedan SC | The country's highest budgeted cup football competition. |

## Stadiums

* Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka
* BSSS Mostafa Kamal Stadium, Dhaka
* MA Aziz Stadium, Chittagong
* Sylhet District Stadium, Sylhet
* Shamsul Huda Stadium' Jessore
* Rajshahi District Stadium, Rajshahi
* Shaheed Kamruzzaman Stadium, Rajshahi
* Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani Stadium, Gopalgonj
* Shaheed Salam Stadium, Feni
* Mymensingh Stadium, Mymensingh
* Shaheed Dhirendranath Stadium, Comilla
* Shaheed Bulu Stadium, Noakhali
* Sheikh Kamal Stadium, Nilphamari
* Bangladesh Army Stadium, Dhaka
* Munshigonj Stadium, Munshiganj
* Shaheed Ahsan Ullah Master Stadium, Gazipur
* Bashundhara Kings Arena, Dhaka

## Official partners

Nitol-Tata the sole distributor of Tata vehicles in Bangladesh was the official sponsor between 2000 till 2005.
In April 2008, BFF secured BDT 16.5 crore (approximately US$22,85,714) in sponsorship from Citycell (Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited) for a three-year period. This was a record-breaking amount in the history of football sponsorship in Bangladesh.
Later in 2010, it made contract with Grameenphone - country's leading mobile phone operator, for the sponsorship of BFF's tournaments.
BFF secured US$70,000 for one year when Nitol-Tata again became the official sponsor for the 2013–14 season.
On 13 March 2022, Pusti became the beverage partner of Bangladesh Football Federation following a two-year agreement.