Bangladesh Chess Federation (BCF) will have to pay Tk 23 lakh to the International Chess Federation (FIDE). A certain amount of money for various tournaments and related events has to pay to (FIDE) but the last committee of the BCF did not pay any fees since 2021 to June 2024.
Meanwhile, no Grand Master has been produced in chess for the last 18 years and the BCF no enough funds. There was a lot of criticism for their failures not able to manage sponsors or collect enough funds to get rid of the financial trouble.
As the BCF did not pay the yearly fee for last three years to World Chess Federation, the dues of BCF is currently turned into a big liability for taka 23 lakh.
Former IGP of Bangladesh Police, Benazir Ahmed was the president of the BCF. After the interim government taking over the power, National Sports Council (NSC) removed the presidents of 42 federations before forming ad hoc committee. Benazir has been absent from chess federation for the past few years due to various reasons.
International arbitrator Harun Or Rashid said, “The Chess Federation has been suffering from financial problems for the last three years. We have not been able to pay money to FIDE for the past three years. This amount is like taka 22, 75 thousand 200 of the participation money in the international tournaments, annual fees of number of players. In fact, it was not possible to pay the money due to the lack of enough funds in the federation.”
Former chess player, FIDE master Taibur Rahman Sumon has been appointed the GS of the BCF in the new ad hoc committee was announced by the NSC on Thursday. He is very disappointed with the arrears of the Chess Federation - “We are now supposed to start from zero. Since I was a chess player, I know very well what. I know where to invest but to manage the funds will be a big challenge,” said Taibur, new GS of the BCF.
