The venue inspection committee of Bangladesh Football Federation decided to give the clubs outside Dhaka a few more weeks to improve their facilities in order to host the Bangladesh Premier League matches. The inspection committee, led by BFF senior vice-president Abdus Salam Murshedi, visited all three venues – Gopalganj Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni Stadium, Chittagong MA Aziz Stadium and Feni Bhasha Saheed Salam Stadium – on Wednesday.
The committee found some problems in all venues and they were confident that the host clubs will resolve the problems within a short time.
Murshedi noticed that the Gopalganj stadium, the home venue of Muktijoddha Sangsad Krira Chakra, and MA Aziz Stadium, home of Chittagong Abahani, are a little bit better than Soccer Club’s venue Feni stadium.
‘We decided to give a few weeks time to the respective clubs to resolve the problems after rectifying the faults,’ said Salam Murshedi on Thursday.
He admitted that the problems were created due to not visiting the venues outside of Dhaka regularly.
‘It was our fault that we did not visit those venues before starting the league but I believe the local authorities and the clubs will resolve all the problems within a short time.
‘I want to make one thing clear that the rest of the league games will be played on home and away basis. No venue will be changed in the ongoing season,’ said a confident Murshedi, who revealed their findings at a press conference on Thursday.
‘At first we visited the Gopalganj stadium where we saw a notable developments as the local authority refurbished its infrastructure and field. In Gopalganj there is no accommodation problem, only they have to extend the size of pitch inside the stadium.
‘MA Aziz Stadium has only one problem and that is a cricket pitch in the middle of the field. We told the National Sports Council and local organisers not to hold any cricket match there. It’s an international football venue and we want to use this stadium on regularly,’ Murshedi said.
‘The renovation work is going on in Feni stadium but we saw the dressing rooms and other facilities were not up to the mark. If the local organisers take proper steps I don’t think much time will be needed to make the venue ready for the league matches,’ said Murshedi.
The Bangladesh Premier League second phase will resume today after a two-day break and the first two rounds will be held in Dhaka.
-With New Age input
