Anisur Rahman

After suffering a 2-0 defeat to Lebanon, Bangladesh are in a vulnerable position once again in the SAFF Championship, aware that any result other than a victory against Maldives at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru today would leave them on the verge of exiting the competition in the group stage for the sixth straight time.

It was another heartbreak for Bangladesh as they conceded two late goals and began their SAFF Championship campaign with a 2-0 loss to Lebanon in the Group B opener at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium yesterday.

When this reporter knocked on the door of Md. Mohsin’s residence, it took more time than usual for someone to answer it.

It is often said that the spectators have turned their backs on domestic football, especially since the Bangladesh Premier League matches and other tournaments have been held in front of almost empty stadiums year after year. However, Tuesday's pulsating Federation Cup final in Cumilla between the country's two popular outfits -- Mohammedan SC and Abahani -- has proved the notion wrong.

Football has been at the centre of every discussion in the sports fraternity in the country for the past month, but unfortunately the conversation has revolved around administrative shortcomings such as the Bangladesh Football Federation’s (BFF’s)

Kabaddi had been a lone discipline that once popped at least a medal in the Asian Games for Bangladesh but the present scenario has deviated afar.

The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) once struggled to roll tournaments on the ground due to financial constraints as the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) together had provided the board an inadequate USD 500,000 per year.

Of late, two major reasons pushed football to suddenly become a focal point of discussion among sports lovers in Bangladesh: the national women's football team's withdrawal from the Paris Olympic women's football qualifiers after the men's team's subpar display against lowly Seychelles in two FIFA friendly matches last month.

The Bangladesh women’s football team have been injecting fresh air for years amidst all the doldrums.

The way fitness coach Ivan Razlog and physio Kandasmy Senthil Kumar Yoseshwar kept an eye on journalists, especially cameramen and photographers to ensure no footage of the training session was being captured, it seemed as if Bangladesh were set to play a crucial international match at the Sylhet District Stadium today.

Karateka Marzan Akter Priya hurdled obstacles from within her family to take up sports as a profession. She won gold in karate in the 2019 South Asian Games. In an interview marking International Women’s Day on Wednesday, the fine arts student of Jagannath University talked to The Daily Star’s Anisur Rahman as she spoke about the special occasion and the scope and advancement of women in sports in general in the country.

Although Mojibur Rahman Jony got into Bangladesh’s 27-member preliminary squad on the back of only 10 Bangladesh Premier League matches worth of experience, the 19-year-old attacking midfielder had to face serious hurdles on his journey so far; including a death-scare.

Despite having been the third-choice player at his position, injuries to two of his teammates in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League not only paved the way for Abahani left-back Alomgir Mollah in cementing his place in the starting eleven but the 22-year-old went on to earn a call-up to the national team’s 27-member preliminary squad for the upcoming 2023 Tri Nations Cup at home.

Despite the introduction of the Bangladesh Youth Games, the nation is still apparently dwelling in the “something is better than nothing” era when it comes to forging a proper pipeline for athletes.

For too long the country’s athletics had failed to live up to its celebrated past at the international stage. While the Bangladeshi sprinters -- the likes of Shah Alam, Bimal Chandra Tarafder, MahbubAlam -- contributed to five golds out of the overall eight medals in athletics from 1984 to 2019 at the regional multi-sports extravaganza in the form of South Asian Games, it has been 17 frustrating years since Mahfizur Rahman Mithu won a gold medal in 110m hurdles in the 2006 Colombo edition.  

Schools across the world have always been considered as breeding grounds of all forms of sports. Sports at school level in Bangladesh were once vibrant and paved the way for many famous athletes to emerge in the fields of football, cricket, chess, hockey, athletics, and many other disciplines. Some of the school-based competitions which created such an impact were Inter-school Football tournament, Nirman School Cricket tournament, Bata School Chess tournament, and so on.

The success of women's football across different age-groups had demanded the re-introduction of the women's football league in a bid to provide female footballers with a foundation for them to stay in football and hone their skills for international competitions.

The country’s domestic football in 2022 was much more vibrant compared to any season in the past. All football competitions,

“We’re an intelligent squad, we know how to read the game, we know how to suffer when necessary, when to press. Every detail counts in every match,” Lionel Messi said after hurdling Croatia in the World Cup semifinal in Qatar.

State-run Bangladesh Television bought the rights to cover all 66 2022 FIFA World Cup matches for a whopping Tk 98 crore after a belated move from the government.