Sayeed Hassan Kanan

Sayeed Hassan Kanan (; born 15 February 1964) is a former Bangladeshi footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Starting from 2002 until 2008, he was part of the national team coaching panel. He currently serves as the goalkeeping coach of his former club Mohammedan SC. Kannan also serves as the team manager of Dhaka Senior Division League club Badda Jagoroni Sangsad.

Early life Kanan's family included six siblings, and his father worked at the Bangladesh Government Press, also known as Central Press. After the Bangladesh Liberation War, his family struggled financially, thus Kanan urged to become a footballer at office clubs, such as Team BJMC, Customs, Qaumi Jute Mills and various other spinning mills.

Club career Kanan grew up in the Badda area of Dhaka, and in 1979, he started playing in the Youth Football League with Naveen Krira Chakra, which is now Badda Jagoroni. In December 1979, Irish coach William Bill Hart of First Division giants Abahani Krira Chakra held a goalkeeper tiral, for which players had to pay 30 rupees to join. Although, Kanan stood in line without paying, he was the first player selected by the coach.

I saw about 30 balls in front of him. As soon as I stood in goal, he started shooting. I also jumped and saved some of his shots. Impressed with my keeping, I heard Bill Hart say to the other coaches, "I will take this boy. Fix the other two." — Kanan to Kaler Kantho in December 2017. In 1996, he began focusing on his coaching career and retired from playing as Mohammedan became undefeated league champions.

International career Kanan replaced the injured Moinul Islam in the Bangladesh team for the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in Indonesia. Although he did not get selected from the main camp held by coach Abdur Rahim, a second selection round under the observation of Bangladesh Football Federation president Hafizuddin Ahmed, saw Kanan get a place in the team. In the national team, he was mainly the second choice goalkeeper to Mohamed Mohsin. His international career came to an end after the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, during which Bangladesh suffered an 8–0 defeat at the hands of Japan.

Post-playing career Knan also received the Dhaka University Blue award. After that, he was also elected Sports Secretary in the Dhaka University Central Students' Union election of 1990 by getting the highest number of votes. During the 2003 SAFF Championship, Kanan was the general manager of the title winning Bangladesh team under György Kottán. In 2005, Kanan was appointed as the national team general manager under head coach Andrés Cruciani.

In June 2007, it was reported that some sports organisers allegedly made money by using their offices to get contracts from the National Sports Council during the BNP-led government, and Kanan was one of them. Following these accusations he was removed from his post in the Federation, only to be reappointed in 2008.

Kanan began coaching Badda Jagoroni in 1985 while continuing his playing career. Starting from 1986, as champions of the Pioneer League, Badda debuted in the Dhaka Premier Division League in 1999 under his guidance. In the same year, under Kanan's coaching, Badda toured West Bengal, lifting the Independence Day Cup held in South Dinajpur, Calcutta, India, while also reaching the semi-finals of the IFA Shield. In 2004, he stepped away as coach and became a member of the club's ad hoc committee. In 2017, after attaining an AFC B license, he was again made the head coach of the club for the 2017 Dhaka Senior Division League.

In October 2021, he joined Mohammedan SC as the goalkeeping coach under Sean Lane. In addition to the AFC license, Kanan also completed position goalkeeper courses level 1 and level 2. He was the Bangladesh U17 goalkeeping coach at the 2022 SAFF U-17 Championship in Colombo, Sri Lanka. On 13 February 2025, Kannan was elected to the National Teams Committee of BFF, following the 2024 BFF elections, which marked the end of Kazi Salahuddin's 16-year-long regime.

Honours Player Dhaka Mohammedan Dhaka First Division/Premier Division League: 1986, 1987, 1988–89, 1993, 1996 Federation Cup: 1987, 1989, 1995 Ma-O-Moni Gold Cup: 1990 Independence Cup: 1991 DMFA Cup: 1993, 1995

Bangladesh South Asian Games Silver medal: 1985, 1989

Manager Badda Jagoroni Sangsad Dhaka First Division League: 1997–98; runner-up: 2001 Dhaka Second Division League runners-up: 1994–95 Dhaka Third Division League runners-up: 1991 Pioneer League: 1986 West Bengal Independence Day Cup: 1999

Awards and accolades 1990 − Sports Writers Association's Footballer of the Year