BOA meeting erupts in row

A bitter dispute over Bangladesh's list of officials for the Asian Games triggered chaotic scenes and a mass walkout at a Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) meeting on Tuesday.

Representatives from the newly formed ad-hoc committees of the athletics, hockey, kabaddi and gymnastics federations stormed out of the session after the BOA refused to alter its submitted list.

Bangladesh are due to compete in 22 disciplines at the 20th Asian Games, which begins in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, on 19 September. The BOA has already forwarded its final list of athletes and officials to the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).

The row centres on the fact that every official named on that list belongs to ad-hoc committees that have since been dissolved. The National Sports Council recently formed fresh ad-hoc panels for the sports bodies concerned, and those new committees are demanding the BOA drop the old names in favour of their own representatives.

State Minister for Youth and Sports Aminul Haque has backed their case, calling the demand logical and formally asking the BOA to replace the outdated names. The BOA, however, has so far ignored his directive, a stand-off that boiled over into open conflict on Tuesday.

Speaking to Daily Sun after the walkout, Bangladesh Kabaddi Federation joint secretary Anwar Hossain Anu did not hide his frustration.

"It has been almost a month since new ad-hoc committees were formed in 27 sports federations," Anu said. "From the very beginning, we have been asking them to drop the names of the managers and officials submitted for the various Asian Games disciplines and replace them with names from the current committees. The BOA is turning a deaf ear to us."

Bangladesh Hockey Federation joint secretary Ariful Islam Prince accused the BOA of ignoring the government altogether.

"The State Minister for Sports also instructed the BOA to change the names of the previously submitted officials," Prince said. "But the BOA is not giving any importance to his words either. They are citing rules stating there is no scope to change the names now. That is why we walked out of this meeting."

With the games now weeks away, the standoff leaves Bangladesh's Asian Games delegation mired in uncertainty.