Abdus Salam Murshedy

Abdus Salam Murshedy (born 6 October 1963)^[1] is a Bangladeshi politician, entrepreneur and former national team football player. He is a member of Bangladesh Awami League and a former Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Khulna-4 constituency during 2018–2024.^[2][3][4] He is a director of Envoy Group, former senior vice president of Bangladesh Football Federation^[5] former President of Exporters Association of Bangladesh^[6][7] and former president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).^{[8][9][10][11]} He has been elected as a Commercially Important Person (CIP) by the government of Bangladesh in 2014.^[12][13]

Abdus Salam Murshedy
আব্দুস সালাম মুর্শেদী
Murshedy in 2018
Member of the Bangladesh Parliament for Khulna-4
In office 4 September 2018 – 6 August 2024
Preceded by	Mostafa Rashidi Suja
Personal details
Born	(1963-10-06) 6 October 1963 (age 61) Khulna District, East Pakistan, Pakistan
Nationality	Bangladeshi
Political party	Bangladesh Awami League
Occupation	Business
Known for	Football player, businessman, politician
Awards	National Sports Awards, 2003
Association football career Position(s) Forward Senior career* Years Team Apps (Gls) 1977–1978 Azad Sporting Club 1979 Team BJMC 1980–1991 Mohammedan SC International career 1978 Bangladesh U19 1979–1985 Bangladesh * Club domestic league appearances and goals

Early life and education

Murshedy was born in Rupsa Upazila, Khulna District. His father Mohammad Israel and mother Rizia Khatun.

Murshedy came from a Khulna family with a very strong connection with sports. His eldest brother Jamal Haider represented East Pakistan in Volleyball before 1971. Abul Kalam Azad, the 3rd brother was for a long time the body building champion of Bangladesh in the late 1970s and early 1980s.^[14]

Domestic football

Murshedy was a highly successful center forward in football. In the '70s, he started his journey with football by playing for Young Boys Club of Khulna. He came to Dhaka from Khulna in the late seventies. At that time, he started playing in Dhaka First Division League for Azad Sporting Club. In 1979 he played for BJMC and helped them win the league title.^[14]

Murshedy joined the Mohammedan Sporting Club (MSC), Dhaka in 1980. With them he won league titles in 1980 and 1982 and 4 successive Federation Cup title starting from 1980. In 1981 he scored 4 goals in the Super League match against Wari Club. Skipper Badal Roy scored the other two goals as MSC won 6–0.^[14]

1982 saw Murshedy reach the pick of his career. He contributed to MSC's first title win in foreign soil, scoring 10 goals during the Ashish Jabbar football tournament in Durgapur, India. Then in the First Division League he created a new record scoring 27 goals in a season. The record still exists. Throughout the season he had a wonderful understanding with No.10 Badal Roy.^[14]

That year, with goals in the First Division, Federation Cup and in India, Salam scored a total of 40 goals in all competitions. During his seven years with The Black and Whites, Salam scored a total of 74 league goals.^[15]

But Murshedy suffered a bad hand injury in 1983, and although he returned to football within a few months, he was never the same player again.^[14]

International football

In December 1980, Murshedy played for the Bangladesh U-19 team in Dacca. He partnered Sheikh Mohammad Aslam of BJMC in the forward line. Bangladesh finished runners up behind Qatar and thus qualified for the main event.

In early 1981, the youth team, now called the Bangladesh (Red) team reached the finals of the first President's Cup in Dacca. But they lost the final to a South Korean team. During the 1982 Quaid-e-Azam International Tournament, Murshedy scored for Bangladesh against Pakistan Youth team in 1–2 loss.^[16] Salam suffered a serious hand injury while playing against Malaysia for the Bangladesh (Green) team in 1983, and this affected his prospects in international football.^[14]

Business

Murshedy is the managing director of Envoy Group.^[17] Besides, he is the director of Premier Bank Limited.^[18] He started Envoy Garment's journey in 1984. Later he made 15 more ready-made garment companies. He is currently the president of Bangladesh Exporters Association (EAB), senior vice president of Bangladesh Football Federation, member of the board of directors of BGMEA Institute of Fashion & Technology. Earlier, he was appointed as the president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and director of Mohammedan Sporting Club.

Politics

On 7 January 2024, Murshedy was elected to parliament from Khulna-4 as a candidate of the Awami League.^[19]

In March 2024, High Court of Bangladesh directed Murshedy to hand over an abandoned Gulshan property to the government alleging him of occupying it illegally.^[20][21] At the aftermath of the fall of the Sheikh Hasina led Awami League government in August, Murshedy was arrested and sent to jail in October 2024 in a case over the death of Rubel, a garment worker, in the Dhaka's Adabor area during the 2024 Bangladesh quota reform movement.^[22][23]

Personal life

Murshedy is married to Sharmin Salam. They have two sons and a daughter.^[14]

Awards

• National Sports Awards, 2013
• Kar Bahadur Paribar, 2017