The biggest football tournament of Rangpur Division, Bashundhara Kings Cup Football Tournament-2018 is all set to start today in Rangpur aiming to restore footballs’ lost popularity.
Bashundhara Kings Cup Football Tournament will start with a stunning inaugural ceremony. The eight districts of Rangpur division will participate in the tournament. Bashundhara Kings President Imrul Hasan, Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) General Secretary Abu Nayem Sohag, Mayor of Rangpur City Corporation Mostafizar Rahman and Rangpur district Deputy Commissioner Anamul Habib will be present during the inaugural ceremony.
One the inaugural day, Rangpur District Junior Football team will lock horns with Panchagar District Junior Football team on 11:00am. Along with the senior category, an under-12 category will also be featured in the tournament. The under-12 category of the tournament will also follow the same fixture and will start on 03:00pm on the inaugural day.
In senior category, the winner of the tourney will get Taka 3 lakh while runners-up will receive Taka 2.5 lakh. In under-12 category, the winner will award Taka 2 lakh whereas runners-up will be given Taka 1.5 lakh.
In this regards, a press conference was held at Bashundhara Kings Headquarters in Bashundhara Residential Area on Thursday to provide all the details of the meet.
Bashundhara Kings President Imrul Hasan, Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) General Secretary Abu Nayem Sohag, Bashundhara Kings General Secretary Minhajul Islam Minhaj, Executive committee members Hasnain Khurshid, Bidyut Kumar Bhoumik and Liakat Hossain were present during the press meet.
Imrul Hasan reiterated Bashundhara Group’s commitment to the development football in Bangladesh.
“Bashundhara Group is continuously working for the development of country’s sporting events. Football was once a very popular sport in our country. It has lost its popularity. We are trying to regain its lost popularity. Recently, Bashundhara Kings completed Under-17 trials from there we picked up 50 young footballers, who are in a long-term camp under the super-vision of Bashundhara Kings,” said Imrul.
He also stated that they are going to organise the tournament with two levels, namely, senior category and under-12 category. The eight districts of Rangpur division have ensured their participation in the tournament. Bashundhara Kings will add the rest of the districts of the nation under the tourney in near future.
Bashundhara Kings reported that the club has bought 200 bighas of land at Kanchan in Rupgonj in Narayangonj for developing an academy.
“We want to make an academy like BKSP where we will include football and cricket. We want to play in national leagues with players only from our academy after 3 years,” Hasan said.
Abu Nayem Sohag was all praise for Bashundhara Kings and the initiative taken by the club.
“Bangladesh Football Federation will always stay with Bashundhara Kings. They have planned to construct an academy and an international standard stadium,” said Sohag.