Fantasy football: The new found passion
There is no denying the fact that fantasy football has made the English Premier League even more enjoyable. Over the last few years, this has emerged as a new found passion among the youth. The days of doing a "Khoj The Search" for people playing fantasy football 12 years back is long gone, now we find it difficult to tame overzealous managers in different Facebook groups, all very determined to emulate the likes of Quamrul Hassan, Jahid Hassan or Fazle Rabbii.
After winning big money contests of now defunct ESPN Star Sports between 2008 and 2010, Quamrul and Jahid decided time was ripe to form a group that will help spread the word.
“Our thinking was simple. The more Bangladeshis playing the game, the more chances of seeing our red and green flag on the leaderboard,” says Jahid.
Together with Arifin Satej and Ehsan Haque, Quamrul and Jahid then set up Fantasy Football Players of Bangladesh, a Facebook group that now boasts around 15,000 members.
Besides the duo, Al Fuad and Saif M Ishtiaq Hossain also won contests held by ESPN STAR SPORTS.
“With the four of us winning name and fame besides pocketing close to $7000 and trips abroad, we knew people will find inspiration in our stories,” says Quamrul.
After its launch on July 30 in 2011, the founders soon saw their dreams coming true. Everyday new members were joining, all very keen to make the best of this group, seeking suggestions about transfers, captain choices and chips. ESPN Star Sports soon folded up, leaving Fantasy Premier League the only contest to concentrate on.
Then out of nowhere, a university student sitting in Rajshahi topped Quarter 2 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), outsmarting around 3 million players from across the globe. The genius Fazle Rabbii will soon fly to the UK to watch his favourite Arsenal play a game at the Emirates Stadium with a friend.
The FPL authorities also organised a player exchange game in 2014, which was also won by a Bangladeshi - Ishtiaque Amin.
“Our idea was to help rookies get to the top. The cases of Fazle and Ishtiaque proved we were right,” said Arifin.
“To make things more interesting, we contributed from our own pocket to raise funds to run FPL leagues every year,” Ehsan adds.
FFPB also organises #FPLGalaxy, a contest where the top players and admins of popular sites across the globe play out a head-to-head league, which was won by Atikur Rahman last year, as he finished ahead of a number of FPL legends and former champions.
This year, FFPB has teamed up with 7TEEN Sports as they organise the 7TEEN FFPB Fantasy League 2016-17, a contest that has a prize money of over Tk 1 lakh.
The code to join the classic league is 1658-1120 as managers vie for prizes like 40 inches LED TV and a netbook. The head-to-head league winner also nets Tk 30,000, but new teams cannot join now.
While the monthly winners, besides the bragging rights, can enjoy a special meal courtesy of Madchef Restaurant.
But to be eligible for the prizes, one has to be a member of FFPB. The link to their group is https://www.facebook.com/groups/fanfootybd
Watch this space from next week as Quamrul starts giving tips and suggestions for Shout readers.