Premier League hockey in September!

The Bangladesh Hockey Federation is planning to hold the Premier Division Hockey League in September-October through revealing a four-year calendar, said the federation’s new general secretary AKM Mominul Haque Shaeed.

Since the end of the last edition of the Premier League in June last year, there were no signs of declaration of inter-club players’ transfers for the top-flight under the ad-hoc committee due to increasing demand for BHF polls, which finally delivered a new committee last month. And now the new GS is promising to start the league soon.

“My first goal is to prepare a four-year calendar for domestic and international events. If I can’t ensure international engagements, I must reveal the domestic calendar through necessary changes in the constitution by holding the Annual General Meeting (AGM). The next Premier League will be held between September and October,” Shaeed said at his Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium office yesterday.

Since the transformation of First Division Hockey League into Premier Division Hockey League in 1998, only 12 leagues were held in 20 years between 1998 and 2018, but prior to that period, the then First Division Hockey League was held 19 times in 23 years between 1974 and 1997.

Asked whether it would be possible to break the trend of holding the Premier League once every two years, Mominul Haque said, “If there is no disaster domestically or internationally, I can assure you all competitions including the Premier League will be held each year during my four-year tenure. I also want to introduce third division and pioneer league in four-year calendar as well as continuing training for different age-group teams in a bid to build a strong pipeline for the senior national team.”