Senior Division back

Organisers brief on the Senior Division Football League, which will kick off at the Birshreshtha Shaheed Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur today, at a press conference at the BFF House yesterday.Photo: STAR

After a one-year gap, the Senior Division Football League(SDFL) begins today at the Birshreshtha Shaheed Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur. Seven teams will be fighting it out for the title in the double-league system meet.
The Senior Division Football League (SDFL), which is now considered the third-grade league in Bangladesh after the Bangladesh Premier League and Bangladesh Championship League, was supposed to get underway a couple of months ago. But the organsiers was forced to defer the league due to lack of grounds and have only now managed to roll it out.
The SDFL was once the country's prime league. But following the introduction of the professional football league in 2006, it has disintegrated into an irregular event. Only two editions were held in the last four years but the newly formed Dhaka Metropolitan Football League Committee (DMFLC) chairman Sheikh Maruf Hasan has promised to hold the league regularly in the next four years.
“It is the first league being held under the newly formed committee and I can assure you that there will be no interruption in the next four years,” said DMLC chairman Maruf at a press conference at the BFF House yesterday.
“The pitch at the Kamalapur Stadium is now much better than the previous one and we are expecting the footballers will be able to put their natural show on the ground,” he added.
The last edition of league was held in 2010 with the participation of 12 teams. The number of teams, however have been reduced significantly due to some clubs joining the Bangladesh Championship League. From the next year though, a total of 10 teams are expected to take part in the league.
Fakirerpool Youngmen Club face Dhaka Wanderers Club on the opening day and information minister Hasanul Haque Inu will be there as chief guest.
Popular Life Insurance Ltd earned the right of title sponsor as they are providing Tk 15 lakh out of an estimated budget of Tk 20 lakh. Organisers informed that each of the participating teams would be given Tk 2 lakh of which one lakh have already been handed over to them.