The Bangladesh Football Federation is set to begin a talent-hunt programme across the country under the supervision of national team coach Lodewijk de Kruif, said an official on Sunday.
A meeting of the BFF’s development committee, held at BFF house, decided that they will start the programme in seven different divisions from next month.
Football’s governing body carried out a similar programme two years ago and selected a group of Under-14 and U-18 players. The youth footballers were due to train at the Sylhet BKSP but the Academy is yet to begin its curriculum.
Most of the chosen players were not tended to by the BFF as renovation work of the Sylhet BKSP is yet to come to a close.
Subsequently, Rene Koster, assigned to the youth side by the BFF, has not yet fixed his working place as he spends most of his time idle and without any assignments.
However, this time the BFF wants to give out some programmes for Koster along with national coach De Kruif.
Both the coaches agreed to travel in seven different regions to spot some raw talents.
‘We picked some talented players two years ago but due to accommodation crisis we failed to give them proper nursing,’ admitted BFF vice-president Badal Roy, who is also the chairman of the Development Committee.
‘Due to a lack of interest among all, we are yet to start the curriculum of the Academy but I am hopeful that we will start the Academy as soon as possible. Because the National Sports Council restarted their renovation work after sanctioning the budget by the finance ministry earlier,’ said a confident Roy adding that, ‘We are happy to see the Dutch coaches of the national side agreeing to join with our upcoming talent-hunt programme across the country.’
Meanwhile, the NSC decided to assist the BFF financially for the very first time after forming the District Football Association eight years ago.
‘The NSC agreed to provide Tk 10 lakhs to the BFF for the development of football for the first time after the formation of the DFA by the BFF and we would like to utilise the financial assistance in the development programme,’ said Roy.
-With New Age input
