U-20 coach Jones claims unpaid salary, BFF calls it ‘unfortunate’

Bangladesh U-20 head coach Gerard Jones has claimed he is yet to receive his salary and is struggling to support his family, while Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) president Tabith Awal has termed the British coach’s social media post “unfortunate”.

Jones, who has been preparing the Bangladesh U-20 team for the upcoming AFC U-20 Asian Cup qualifiers at the Shamsul Huda Football Academy in Jashore since last month, raised the issue in a Facebook post on Monday.

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The British coach said he was dealing with “miscommunication or surprises” and was worried about his family and his safety.

“Low. Sad. Worried for my family and for my safety. Constantly dealing with miscommunication or surprises and today was another hard pill to swallow,” Jones wrote.

“Waiting for my salary. I have no money and I can’t transfer funds out to feed my wife and children.”

Jones also wrote: “I’m fearful for my life and scared.”

Tabith said he had seen the post but described Jones’ account of the situation as misleading.

“I saw. It’s unfortunate but I will have to respect freedom of speech. It’s unfortunate because the entire situation is misrepresented by him. Anyways, it’s resolving soon,” Tabith told The Daily Star through a text message.

It’s unfortunate but I will have to respect freedom of speech. It’s unfortunate because the entire situation is misrepresented by him.

Tabith Awal, BFF President

Asked whether the BFF would look into Jones’ concerns over his safety, Tabith said the federation would not respond to the social media post.

“No, we will ignore his post. If he has concerns he can always tell us directly,” he said.

BFF general secretary Emran Hasan, meanwhile, said the federation had fulfilled its contractual obligation by depositing Jones’ salary.

“As per contract, we have deposited salary to his account by August 10 and also deposited the tax on the salary and waited for tax documents to hand it over to the coach, but transferring money to another account is not our duty. It is a duty of Jones,” Emran told The Daily Star.

According to Emran, the issue is related to the transfer of the salary rather than the BFF withholding Jones’ payment.

Jones is currently in Dhaka to process the necessary formalities related to the payment.