Current sports budget of Tk 32 crore insignificant: Papon

Nazmul Hassan Papon, country's minister of Youth and Sports, promised that he would try to increase the sports budget in the next fiscal in a bid to mitigate the potential problems of the country's sports.

"So far, I know the sports budget of Tk 32 crore, including traveling and training, is very insignificant, and I can't change it at my will. However, I will be trying to decide whether this amount can be increased in the next budget [2024-25]," Hassan told reporters on Wednesday after meeting with the high-ups of football and hockey federations to discuss their problems, their requirements and possibility, following Tuesday's meeting with eight other sports federations and national women's sports association.

"There is hardly any chance to increase the sports budget within the current system because it can be increased by only 10 percent. I don't know whether I can increase the limit, but definitely we have to increase the [sports] budget," said the newly appointed minister, also the long-standing president of Bangladesh Cricket Board.

Both football and hockey sought financial help apart from the infrastructural development to roll their respective disciplines into the ground regularly.

Meanwhile, Tk 1309.86 crore was proposed for youth and sports in the budget of 2023-24 fiscal.

The sports minister further considers roping in private sponsors to neutralise the existing financial problems of the federations, and he is upbeat about managing the sponsors for different sports federations.

"I think I can solve 80 percent of the problems of the sports federations I encountered in the last two days. I believe it is possible to manage sponsors for some federations, if not for all," Hassan continued.

"In my past experience, I know there is no shortage of sponsors who always want to see everything professionally and transparently. Secondly, they also want something in return... I am confident that I can manage some sponsors for different disciplines.

"However, I have to go to the government for the infrastructural development and it will take some time," he concluded.