U-15 C'ship a platform for future events

Keeping the 2016 AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers and 2017 FIFA Under-17 World Cup in mind, the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) is going to the Sailor-BFF Under-15 National Football Championship from Sunday at eight different venues.

The dreams were shared at a press conference at the BFF House yesterday arranged to unveil the logo and jersey of Under-15 Championship were unveiled in presence of national captain Mamunul Islam, Enamul Haque, Shahedul Alam and former footballers Kaiser Hamid, Joshim Uddin Joshi and goalkeeper Mohammad Mohsin.

“We are going to hold the U-15 Championship in a bid to form the under-16 squad for the SAFF Under-16 Championship and AFC Under-16 Championship Qualifiers. If we qualify for the finals of the AFC Under-16 Championship, then we will be trying to get one of three Asian quotas for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in 2017,” said BFF general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag.

Bangladesh will host the SAFF U-16 Championship and AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers in August and September respectively while India will host the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017. 

Some 61 districts, split into eight zones, will be taking part in knockout-basis preliminary round of the Sailor-BFF U-15 Championship and each venue champion will advance to the eight-team finals.

“We have been forced to hold the championship in knockout format due to shortage of time but we will consider about having a round-robin basis tournament in future,” said BFF vice president Badal Roy, also chairman of the development committee.

It is first time that district youth teams have been formed under supervision of the game's governing body, which sent its coaches across the country to scout the best players from upazila level before forming the district teams. The coaches strictly determined the age of the players, informed the speakers.

Satyajit Das Rupu, Hasanuzzaman Khan Bablu, Fazlur Rahman Babul and sponsor Epyllion's director Junaed Abu Saleh Musa were also present on the occasion.