The Bangladesh Football Federation has demanded Tk 35 crore from the government for each year to to run football smoothly, officials said after a meeting with the state minister for youth and sports, Biren Shikder, on Tuesday. The deputy minister for youth and sports, Arif Khan Joy, also attended the meeting at the office of Biren at the National Sports Council where the federation’s president Kazi Mohammed Salauddin led a seven-member delegation.
The officials sought at least one stadium in each division to be allotted exclusively for the regular holding of grass-roots football.
Salahuddin later told reporters that because of some communications gap, they could not seek help from the previous state minister Ahad Ali Sarker. ‘We did not have a proper communication with the previous minister.’
‘The state minister [Biren Shikder] agreed to help us. If he meets our demands, football will be benefited.’
‘The minister promised to help us to get the money from the finance ministry,’ Salahuddin said.
The federation’s vice-president Badal Roy said that they had also requested higher authorities to give portion of the money meant for district sports associations to district football associations as they are now separate entities.
‘After the formation of the district football associations, we did not get any financial help from the National Sports Council. And after the separation, the sports associations are also not interested in allotting the stadium to football. This is why the football associations failed to hold the league properly,’ Badal said.
‘We explained the matter to the minister and requested him to give at least 35 per cent of total allocation for sports associations to football associations.’
-With New Age input
