International Hockey Federation president Leandro Negre will arrive in Dhaka today to inaugurate the First Security Islami Bank School Tournament, which will get underway on Saturday at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium. Negre will also visit the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishthan before meeting the State Minister of Youth and Sports, Biren Shikder, and Deputy Minister Arif Khan Joy, a Bangladesh Hockey Federation official said on Thursday.
‘Negre promised us last year in February in his first visit to Dhaka that he would present us with a new artificial turf with the assistance of the Organization of Islamic Conference, and we are hopeful that with this visit, we will get the turf as soon as possible,’ said BHF general secretary Khaja Rahamatullah.
‘There is a good possibility that the FIH president will announce more assistance for us to develop our game,’ he added.
A BHF source said that Negre will announce another practice turf for Bangladesh, and the BHF is planning to install this turf in an open area where the public will have the chance to play hockey.
102 schools will participate in the preliminary phase of the School Tournament at 10 different venues all over the country. The top 28 teams will move on to the final phase.
The BHF set a tentative budget of Tk 2.5 crore for the competition, of which title sponsor First Security Islami Bank will provide Tk 2 crore.
The champions will receive Tk 30,000 and the runners-up will get Tk 20,000.
Rahamatullah said that they would pick at least thirty talented players from this tournament to groom for the future.
‘We provided all kinds of sports goods to each team so they could prepare themselves for the tournament,’ said Rahamatullah.
-With New Age input
