Kiron: A visionary sports organizer

Mahfuza Akhter Kiron is a member of FIFA Council. She has become the first sports organizer in the country and achieve this through her organizational skills.

Under her leadership, women’s football are moving forward day by day. Not only in South Asia, Bangladesh women’s football have now started spreading its light in Asia as well. Kiron, has already been able to establish herself as a visionary sports organizer.

She is a women’s sports organizer from Bangladesh. She completed her secondary and higher secondary from Donovan Government Girls High School and Govt Nazimuddin College Madaripur. Then she admitted to the department of Public Administration of Dhaka University and finished her post-graduation.

During her university days, she involved in patriotic movement and became a poster girl. Afterwards, she became the first-ever elected general secretary of Bangladesh Women’s Sports Organization (Bangladesh Mohila Krira Songstha) in 2008.

In the very same year, she joined Bangladesh Football Federation as the Deputy Chairman of BFF Women’s Wing. Under her leadership the first-ever official Bangladesh National Women’s Football team are formed.

She is a business person by profession and runs a market research company named “MODULUS”. For her contribution in the professional and sports arena she was awarded several awards.

In May 2017, Akhter won the election for the seat on the FIFA Council reserved for Asian women, beating the incumbent Australian Moya Dodd, who had held the seat from 2013-16, by 27 votes to 17. 

Kiron was elected to the FIFA Council at the 27th AFC Congress 2017 in Manama, Bahrain on Monday 8 May. She is the Deputy Chairman of FIFA Players status committee. She has previously served on the U20 FIFA Women’s World Cup Organizing Committees for the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup Japan 2012 and the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cups: Papua New Guinea 2016.

In April 2019, she was re-elected for the seat on the FIFA Council reserved for Asian women beating Han Un Gyong of North Korea in the AFC Congress.

The Bangladeshi, who is also the head of her national association’s women’s wing was rewarded Sheikh Jamal Award 2011 for Best Women’s Sports Organizer, picked up Women Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 award in March of 2017 from ‘The Women Entrepreneur Association of Bangladesh’(WEAB) for her work in football and business. Her other awards include: Organizer of the year 2017 - Awarded by Bangladesh Sports Press Association (BSPA), and Top 10 Organizer 2018 - Awarded by Ananya.

She is currently a member of the AFC’s Executive Committee and Chairperson of the AFC Women’s Committee. Previously she was the member of the Athletics Committee of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).