A concert in the past week has left the Bangabandhu National Stadium badly damaged, raising fears that it could jeopardise Bangladesh\u2019s chance to host a series of international football matches scheduled in the ground in March.
\nATN Records, an event management firm, hosted the concert, Tri-Nation Big Show, in the\u00a0stadium on February 24, seven days after the opening of the Cricket World Cup in the ground.
\nBangladesh Football Federation officials alleged that the concert had left many holes in the outfield making it barely usable.
\nThe athletic turf installed in the ground was also badly damaged by the concert where stars of Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka, which are co-hosts of the Cricket World Cup 2011, performed.
\nThe Olympic Pre-Qualifier football between Bangladesh and Kuwait is scheduled to be held the ground on March 9.
\nThe ground is also supposed to host six Olympic pre-qualifiers matches of the women\u2019s event seven days later.
\nThe BFF grounds committee chair, Fazlur Rahman Babul, said that it would take at least a month for them to make the ground usable for an international match.
\n\u2018The entire pitch looks barren apart from few grasses in the western part. We need to fill in the holes and plant grass which is not possible to complete before a month,\u2019 Babul told New Age on Sunday.
\n\u2018The FIFA match commissioner will arrive here three days before the match and I am afraid he may not find the ground in an appropriate condition. In that case, he can cancel the match and it will be very embarrassing for us,\u2019 he said.
\n\u2018If the match is cancelled, we will also need to count a big amount in fine,\u2019 he said.
\nBabul said they had informed the National Sports Council of the matter well in advance but they did not pay any heed. NSC officials refused to shoulder any responsibility.
\n\u2018When you see a big stadium getting allocated for a concert, you must know it is not me who gave the permission. The instruction comes from people who are high up. We had nothing to do here,\u2019 said Haiul Quium, the director of sports, who is usually responsible for giving such permission.
\nAbdur Rahman, the director of planning and development of the NSC, admitted that the ground and the turf had been damaged.
\n\u2018We have heard that the athletic turf is not in a good condition. We will ask turf specialists to examine the condition and estimate the cost of repairs. The concert organisers will be asked to pay the compensation then,\u2019 he said.
\nAnthony Philip, the event co-coordinator of the ATN Records, however, brushed aside the charges of causing any damage to the ground.
\n\u2018I and my people have examined the ground after the concert. It is in a good condition. If anything may really have happened to the ground, it happened because of the World Cup opening ceremony, not for us,\u2019 he said.
\nPhilip said they did not obtain any permission from the National Sports Council, the custodian of the ground, and they had obtained permission from the Bangladesh Cricket Board.
\nIt was learnt that the ATN records had paid the cricket board Tk 5 crore in compensation for the concert.
\nAs the cricket board has no legitimate right to give the ATN Records any permission for such concert in the stadium, it tagged the event to the Cricket World Cup opening to make money, sources said.
\nThe ATN Records initially planned to host two concerts, in Chittagong and Dhaka, on February 16 and 18 and promised to pay the cricket board Tk 10 crore.
\nThe Chittagong event had to be cancelled as it coincided with Eid-e-Miladunnabi and the ATN records also deferred the Dhaka event as they expected a low turnout between the World Cup opening ceremony and the opening match.
\n\u2018We had to spend a huge amount of money on the installation of giant screens and other World Cup promotional activities in all the district headquarters. We were told by the government to raise fund from this concert,\u2019 said Jalal Yunus, a BCB director and the chairman of the media committee.
\nKamrunnahar Dana, a national award winner sports woman and former national badminton champion, criticised renting the playground out for concert.
\n\u2018We need the stadium for sports and not for any cultural shows. I request the government to build a permanent cultural complex where such programmes could be held,\u2019 she said.
\n\u2018It will help all of us to hold cultural programmes and will save the playgrounds as well,\u2019 she added.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Courtesy of New Age<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A concert in the past week has left the Bangabandhu National Stadium badly damaged, raising fears that it could jeopardise Bangladesh\u2019s chance to host a series of international football matches scheduled in the ground in March. ATN Records, an event management firm, hosted the concert, Tri-Nation Big Show, in the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[1869,908,870,2353],"yoast_head":"\n