Is BD U-20 Football team’s coach Gerard dismissed?

A rumour was arisen that the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has sacked the head coach of the Bangladesh U-20 Football team, Gerard Jones, from his duties.

The British coach has been in the news for a few days after a scuffle with his assistant coach, calling the police to the team hotel and later allegations of insecurity on social media.

The Bangladesh U-20 Football team is scheduled to leave the country for Uzbekistan today.

The federation has temporary remove from his duties just the day before, a BFF source said on Tuesday. But the information is not totally true.

However, after the news of the dismissal spread, Gerard Jones clarified his position and spoke on social media.

He said, “The matter is completely baseless. No one from the federation has said that I have been dismissed or anything like that. I don’t even know where the news came from.”

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-20 Asian Cup qualifiers will be held in Uzbekistan from August 31 to September 6. Bangladesh Under-20 Football team’s opponents in Group B are hosts Uzbekistan, India and Chinese Taipei.

Amid the preparations for this important competition, Gerard Jones and Assistant Coach Atiqur Rahman Meshu had an argument and a scuffle at a team hotel in Dhaka on Wednesday last.

At one point, Jones called the police on 999. Upon receiving the information, the police went to the hotel and brought the situation under control.

After the incident, the BFF’s Development Committee started working to investigate the matter.

Team Manager and Development Committee Member of BFF Samid Kashem also said that efforts were being made to resolve the matter quickly.

However, while the investigation was ongoing, Jones posted a video message on social media on Monday night.

There, he expressed concern about his safety, alleging that he was physically assaulted at work.

The British coach also claimed that he did not receive any support even after sending a picture of the injury to the BFF.

Jones said, “I was attacked at work. I had to call the police in self-defense. I sent a picture of the injury I received to the BFF and informed them about it, but I did not receive any help or support from them. I still do not feel safe.”

Jones, however, denied the dispute with Assistant Coach Meshu. He claimed that he has a good relationship with Meshu and that one party is deliberately trying to confuse the situation by spreading false information.

Jones also claimed that he has never faced such a situation in his long coaching career.

He said that he did not understand why such a situation was arising when there was a chance to do well in the AFC qualifiers.

After these statements by Jones, uncertainty arose about his future. In the end, the BFF decided not to keep him in charge.

The British coach took charge of the Bangladesh Under-20 team on a two-year contract in last June.

Meanwhile, the BFF has also postponed the U-20 Football team’s press conference on Tuesday. The press conference was scheduled to be held on Tuesday ahead of the tour of Uzbekistan.

However, a few hours ago, the BFF said that the press conference was not being held due to “unavoidable reasons”.