ePaper_2nd Edition_October 12, 2016

DT
26
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2016
Sport
POST-MORTEM OF BANGLADESH FOOTBALL
Is it the end of a tunnel?
• Shishir Hoque
The crisis existing in Bangladesh
football right now is nothing new.
It has been several years since their
decline began while some would
even argue that it stretches back
as far as a decade. But Monday’s
humiliating defeat against Bhutan
was so abject that it was labelled
in many quarters as the death of
Bangladesh football.
Let’s face the facts first. Bangladesh
were never among the top
100 teams in the world ever since
the creation of the ranking system
in 1993. They had never been a big
team in Asia as well. They were one
of the best teams in South Asia but
that was more than a decade ago.
In recent years, they had been being
outplayed regularly against the
likes of Afghanistan, India, Maldives
and Nepal.
Losing to Bhutan for the first
time in history was not the biggest
concern. It can happen to any team
in the world but what was difficult
to accept was their uninspiring performance.
Therefore, the time has finally
come for Bangladesh football to rebuild
from scratch.
Looking back to the year 2003,
Bangladesh had won their first and
only South Asian Football Federation
title till date. They finished
runners-up in the following edition
two years later. Most of the players
were at their peak.
However, since then, almost
all the players of the title-winning
squad have retired. A new generation
of players are being groomed by
the Bangladesh Football Federation.
With that said, it is well known
that the BFF has failed to predict
the future of the country’s football
scenario. Football’s governing
body in the country seems to be
lacking the word “development”
in its vocabulary. They somehow
managed to make domestic league
regular on the pitch but has rarely
made any attempt to produce players.
It took 43 years for them to finally
build a football academy but
since then three years have elapsed
with absolutely no activity taking
place there. Looking back in time,
it is no surprise to see Bangladesh
struggling.
What’s more, the BFF has failed
to add any glamour to domestic
football. Questions regarding the
players’ professionalism are refusing
to go away. There has also been
allegations of match-fixing for a
long time now.
The BFF’s lack of attention towards
the players’ development and
non-professionalism from the clubs
have ensured that the new generation
of footballers would be vulnerable
technically, physically and psychologically.
Majority of the players
these days have rarely contributed
to the national team’s cause.
Bangladesh have no major Fifa/
Afc events at least for the next two
years, right until the beginning of
the qualifying round of the 2022
World Cup and the 2023 Asian Cup.
This period should be utilised properly
by the relevant authorities.
Ten out of 23 players from the
latest squad against Bhutan will be
over 30 years old in the next two
years, including the likes of Mamunul
Islam, Jahid Hasan Ameli
and Mamun Miah, among others.
BFF general secretary Abu Nayeem
Shohag admitted there is no return
from where they are now. He spoke
with authority that the BFF will
“look after everything, make overall
planing and assessment”. The
words however, are nothing new.
There maybe a new group of
players but what about the situation
of the footballers in the pipeline?
Apparently, they are nowhere
near good enough.
Who are to blame? The federation,
the clubs or the players? There
is plenty of time now to ponder and
rebuild again.
Along with the results and performances,
there has been instability
of head coaches in the national
team. The coach has been changed
as many as 19 times in the last 10
years, including four in the previous
12 months. Now, Bangladesh
must appoint a permanent coach
for the long term, at least for three
to four years.
The Asian Football Confederation
will introduce the Solidarity
Cup next month with the participation
of teams who have failed to
qualify for the Asian Cup Qualifiers.
The opportunity to play international
friendlies has increased
over the years so there will still be
some platform to see how the newly-shaped
football team would do
in the upcoming years.
From next year onward, the
football federation will get more
than double the financial support
from Fifa than they used to get previously.
They are preparing a plan
of their future activities that they
will present to the world football’s
governing body in a month. In the
context of the current situation,
the national team and development
of the players should be the
top-most priorities in the proposal.
Will the BFF finally learn
and be serious? Because if they
don’t act soon, the country’s football
will be non-existent sooner
rather than later. •
18TH NCL, RD 3, DAY 4
TIER 1
DHAKA 523 v BARISAL 103/1d
Match drawn
KHULNA 293 v DHAKA
METROPOLIS 59/0d
Match drawn
TIER 2
RANGPUR 234 & 233/7 in 79 overs
(Saymon 94, Jahid 52, Sanjamul 4/106)
v RAJSHAHI 268
Match drawn
SYLHET 444 & 243/5d in 42
overs (Zakir 86, Kapali 58, Arif 3/85) v
CHITTAGONG 315 & 146/9 in 57.3 overs
(Saeed 68, Rahatul 5/48, Yasir 23)
Match drawn
POINTS TABLE
TIER 1
Teams M W L D Pts
Barisal 3 0 0 3 23
Khulna 3 0 0 3 19
Dhaka Metro 3 0 0 3 15
Dhaka 3 0 0 3 13
TIER 2
Teams M W L D Pts
Rajshahi 3 1 0 2 33
Rangpur 3 1 0 2 28
Sylhet 3 0 1 2 19
Chittagong 3 0 1 2 18
Action from the IHF Trophy match between the Bangladesh women’s team and their Afghanistan counterparts in Dhaka yesterday
Bangladesh men, women reach IHF semis
• Tribune Report
Hosts Bangladesh, Nepal and
arch-rivals India and Pakistan
reached the semi-finals in the
men’s category of the International
Handball Federation Trophy after
winning their respective matches
yesterday.
In the women’s section, Bangladesh,
India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan
completed the semi-finals line up.
Bangladesh women’s team defeated
Afghanistan 34-7 in the first
match. Bangladesh led the first half
16-2. Rubina was the highest-scorer
with nine goals for Bangladesh.
The second match of the day in
the women’s section was a nail-biting
affair with Pakistan edging
Nepal 21-20. Nepal were leading
20-19 moments away from the final
whistle before Pakistan scored two
goals in the last minute to register
COURTESY
an exciting victory. Sehar Iqbal of
Pakistan was the highest scorer
with nine goals. Nisha Roy of Nepal
also netted nine.
In the third match of day, India
beat Maldives 51-13 to cruise into
the last four. Menika and Nidhi
scored nine and eight goals respectively
for India.
In the men’s category, Nepal
prevailed over Maldives 32-21 in
the first match of the day. KC Chandra
of Nepal netted nine times to
steer his team to victory. Mohammad
Firoz scored eight goals for the
losing side.
In the second match of the
day, Pakistan outplayed Afghanistan
44-20 to top the group. Belal
scored highest 11 goals for Pakistan.
Both the teams progressed to
the last four.
In the third match of the day,
Bangladesh outplayed Sri Lanka.•