Desk Report,
Government gives BFF 5 crore taka
The National Sports Council on August 14 gave 5 crore taka to the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) for the development of grassroots football in the country. This money will be used to organize the regional football tournament 2025 as part of the ‘Youth Festival’ program. The National Sports Council has informed that the allocated money will be used to further strengthen football in the district and increase opportunities for local players. The letter signed by the Finance Director of the National Sports Council Md. Mamunur Rashid confirmed the release of the money. The letter mentions seven conditions, one of which is that each sector of expenditure must be followed correctly. Money from one sector cannot be used in another sector. Expenditure bills and bank statements must be preserved and presented in the annual audit and income tax and VAT must be deducted and submitted to the government treasury.
Government gives BFF 5 crore taka
We have received 5 crore taka from the National Sports Council. We hope that the remaining 5 crore taka will come from the Ministry of Youth and Sports. The rest will be collected through sponsors.
Wahid Uddin Chowdhury, Head and Vice President of BFF Youth Festival Inter-District Championship Committee
Earlier it was reported that BFF will organize three football tournaments in the country with the help of the government on the occasion of Youth Festival. These are the Inter-District Home and Away Football Tournament, Boys’ Under-17 Tournament and Girls’ Under-15 Football.
The total budget of these three tournaments was said to be around Tk 16 crore by BFF. However, in reality, the budget is over Tk 18 crore, out of which Tk 5 crore has been provided by NSC. Wahid Uddin Chowdhury, Head and Vice President of BFF Youth Festival Inter-District Championship Committee told Prothom Alo yesterday, ‘We have received Tk 5 crore from the National Sports Council. We hope that the remaining Tk 5 crore will come from the Ministry of Youth and Sports. The rest will be collected through sponsors.’ The inauguration of the inter-district tournament will be held in Munshiganj on August 30, where Youth and Sports Advisor Asif Mahmud Sajeeb Bhuiyan is expected to be present. The tournament will feature 64 districts of the country and will be played on a home-and-away basis. In the first round, the teams have been divided into eight ‘pots’ or regions, named after the eight martyrs of the July Movement. A total of 112 matches will be played in this year’s tournament. Asian Football Confederation President Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa is scheduled to visit Dhaka in November. The BFF has planned to host the final in his presence. At one time, the Sher-e-Bangla Cup was held with all the districts in the country. After a long break of 13 years, the tournament returned to the field in January 2020, but it was not called the Sher-e-Bangla Cup, but was held in his name to mark the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Along with the Sher-e-Bangla Cup, the Suhrawardy Cup U-19 football is also memorable in the history of domestic football in Bangladesh. Many footballers have donned the national team jersey after emerging from these two tournaments.
The plan to organize a large-scale inter-district football tournament was first announced at the annual sports awards ceremony of the Bangladesh Sports Press Association at a hotel in Dhaka on April 11. The announcement was made by the Youth and Sports Advisor.
