Bangladesh Athletics Federation (BAF) ad hoc committee’s General Secretary Shah Alam blamed the previous executive committee members, dissolved by the National Sports Council (NSC) in November, for their non-cooperative attitude towards the new ad hoc committee.

Shah Alam also said that the previous EC members, who had not fled the country, had not handed over any files, documents and audit reports to the new committee, nor had they even responded to their letters.

“The previous committee had not handed over anything to us. Files, documents and audit reports … nothing.  Some of the members are still in the country, haven't fled away. We sent the letters twice, but no one replied. They are totally non-cooperative to the new committee,” the new GS told the Daily Sun when asked about the new ad hoc committee’s plan of action.

“Any one of them could have come forward and handed everything over to us. It is etiquette. I was also the Secretary; I handed over everything-- files, documents, and financial records to the new committee before leaving my charges. But the previous committee is not cooperative with us,” he added.

“We told the office secretary and other staff to submit a list of everything from chair tables to sporting equipment which we have in the federation. They have already submitted a list and we have started to work. We are checking the financial records. We just started to work, we need 15 days to one month to get a clear idea of what we have,” the ad hoc committee GS added.

BAF previous committee’s president Tofazzel Hossain Miah and general secretary Adv Abdur Rakib Montu have been missing since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government.

Tofazzel, who was the principal secretary of the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, hid himself to escape public outrage after the fall of the government.

Montu, who was actively involved in politics with Awami League and was a nomination aspirant for Sylhet 3 constituency from the party, went to Paris on 23 July as the team leader of the Athletics contingent for the Olympic 2024.

He hadn’t returned to Dhaka amid the political unrest in July-August. Later a source claimed that he was in the USA with his family, though he remained traceless till date.

However, some of the EC members were in the country and ran the federation until NSC dissolved the previous committee and formed a new 19-member ad hoc committee with Major General D Nayeem Ashfaque Chowdhury as president and Md Shah Alam as general secretary in November.

The BAF ad hoc committee formally took charge and started its activities with a meeting on 6 December. The new committee also announced plans to resume the sport on the track and turf with the 48th National Athletics Competition 2025 on 17-19 February.

The three-day event will be held at the Bangabandhu National Stadium (BNS), which is also known as Dhaka Stadium.

When asked about the funds and sponsorships, he replied, “We need at least Tk20 lakhs to arrange a national event. We have talked to the president and the vice president. They assured us that they would do whatever they could do. I’m not sure, but I think the federation should have at least Tk5 lakhs to 10 lakhs in the fund.

“The previous committee may also have some loans. I can say everything after having all the reports. Give us some time,” the ad hoc committee GS concluded.

Olympian Sprinter Imranur Rahman will also take part in the national competition.

About his participation he said, “Yes definitely he will take part in the national event. We communicated with him at the beginning and told him to start preparing for the national event. He has already started his training. If he does not take part in the national competition, we can't send him to any international competitions.”