Jamal and Zico's Emi snub sums up the amount of respect national team footballers get

Bangladesh National football team captain Jamal Bhuyan and goalkeeper Anisur Rahman Zico expressed their sadness over not being able to meet the Argentine World Cup-winning goalkeeper Emi Martinez.

The sense of embarrassment and sadness was palpable on the faces of Jamal and Zico on the day the national team returned from India after a Saff Championship campaign where they exceeded expectations and reached the semis. 

There was no one from the Bangladesh Football Federation present to greet them despite their good performances in the Saff tournament.

Around the same time when the national team footballers returned, Emi was on his way to the airport to fly to India.

On Emi's day-long visit, he met the Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina, former national cricket team captain and now MP Mashrafe Mortaza among other dignitaries. 

Once the Bangladesh footballers found out Emi was on his way, they waited for him in hopes of meeting the World Champion.

What followed was an embarrassing scene.

The captain of Bangladesh stood among the crowd outside the car which had Emi in it but could not meet him as Emi's entourage took him straight into the airport.

Some members from the Bangladesh football team management were even calling Emi and telling him that the captain of the Bangladesh football team was right there to no avail.

After this, local media present there caught up with Jamal and Zico for their thoughts.

"I was waiting to see if it was really Emi or not. I heard he was coming to India but I wasn't sure if he was also coming here but now I just saw that he's here for real," said Jamal.

He also added that he was a fan of Emi: "Of course, I follow players that play in the Premier League. I'm a fan and he's also the Argentine national team goalkeeper and a World Champion. It would have been nice if the players could have met him. We are available. But I'm sure he's a busy person and had plans."

Zico, who had a terrific tournament in India expressed a hint of grief over the missed opportunity: "It would have been nice to meet him because he's a World Class goalkeeper. Could have taken some tips from him but I couldn't so that's the sad part for me."

"It's up to the sponsors and organisers if they wanted to arrange for him to meet our national team players. If it was organised by our federation, it certainly would have been easier," Zico added. 

The whole situation served up a storm on social media and many questioned how much importance is actually given to the national team players and the football of Bangladesh.

Indeed, questions can be raised over just how much importance is given to the national team footballers as Emi's visit had nothing to do with football.

It was a closed event with no fanfare to show the amount of craze there is in Bangladesh for football and the Argentine football team.

Fans questioned whether the decision by the organisers to have politicians and social media influencers meet Emi Martinez over the national team players or aspiring footballers was the best decision.

There were many that wanted Emi to be presented in front of an audience so he could get a better picture of what the fanfare for football in Bangladesh was like.

Although the organisers were not Bangladeshi and Dhaka was a detour on the way to India, questions remain over whether more could have been done about his trip here, which had many hyped about his visit.

It all summed up the way in which football has often taken a back seat to politicians and whether this visit by the World Cup-winning goalkeeper does any good for Bangladesh's football.

A visit that began with so much hope and hype from fans ended on a damp note showing the reality of where Bangladesh's football is and the amount of importance the footballers are given in the grand scheme of things.