Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) president Kazi Salahuddin yesterday recalled his memories of August 15, 1975 as Bangladesh commemorates the National Mourning Day.

While talking to reporters at his BFF office, the former national team captain spoke about his last memories with Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who embraced martyrdom along with most of his family members on this day in 1975.

"August 15 is the darkest day for Bangladesh and for all Bengalis. No other incident could be darker than this and the saddest thing is that we had to see and experience this," Salahuddin told reporters. "That I'm talking here as a free man is because of Bangabandhu. Independent Bangladesh was his vision."

The BFF boss spoke about how Sheikh Kamal, Bangabandhu's elder son, made an impact in Bangladesh's sporting landscape.

"Sheikh Kamal had a vision to see Bangladesh in a super position in sports world. In a short time he built Abahani, which has become an institution in the country.

"August 7 was the last time we met Bangabandhu. We have a picture of him meeting the team on that day before our departure for Kuala Lumpur for the Mardeka Tournament. The last time I talked with Kamal was August 8 at the airport, the day we left for Kuala Lumpur. I was the captain of the side. Kamal, too, was supposed to go there later. He couldn't go due to a university program. He said, 'you go, I'll come later. We will challenge Asia with this team'," Salahuddin recalled.

Salahuddin also spoke about how he and the team came to know about what had happened on the morning of August 15 in Dhaka.                    

"We had a match with South Korea on August 15. We didn't have any practice in the morning. I went to the hotel for breakfast with Tanna (Tanvir Mazhar), who went from Hong Kong to see us play. At that time a Sikh guy, owner of an Adidas shop in Kuala Lumpur, approached us. He told us that a coup had taken place in Dhaka but couldn't give us any details.

"Instantly we took a taxi and rushed to the Bangladesh embassy, which resembled a crematorium to us. There was no-one except for a receptionist. We met the ambassador and he didn't know any detail yet, but gradually news started to come and we learnt of what had taken place in Dhaka," Salahuddin said.