SPORTS REPORTER

The National Football Championship, jointly organised by the Youth and Sports Ministry and the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF), will return this month after a four-year break, featuring all 64 districts across the country.

Held under the banner of the government’s Festival of Youth, the tournament will follow a home-and-away format, though concerns remain over the availability of some district stadiums being used as temporary army camps.

The competition will kick off on August 30 with Munshiganj facing Madaripur, while matches at other venues will get underway in mid-September. The final is scheduled for November 24 or 25 at the National Stadium, where AFC president Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa is expected as chief guest.

The 64 districts, divided into eight zones and named after the July Uprising martyrs, will feature in two-legged ties. Winners will advance to the round of 32, also contested on aggregate, before reaching the round of 16 -- from which point the competition will shift to a direct knockout format.

“This championship is an initiative to revive sports at the district level,” Youth and Sports Ministry secretary Mahbub-Ul-Alam said at a press conference at the BFF House yesterday.

He added that the National Sports Council has allocated Tk 5 crore to the BFF, while the ministry will provide another Tk 5 crore to support district participation.

District Football Associations (DFAs) have struggled for years to hold local leagues due to financial constraints, limiting the pipeline of emerging players. While some districts have benefited from recent upazila-level tournaments, others face difficulties either in assembling teams or in securing suitable grounds.

“A football tournament just concluded at an upazila, and we picked our players from there to start training a couple of days ago. Our district stadium is fine, but places like Kurigram and Lalmonirhat may need alternative venues due to army camps at their stadiums,” Rangpur DFA president Shamim Khan Miskin told The Daily Star yesterday.

Faridpur DFA general secretary and former footballer Abul Kashem added, “We are preparing Rajendrapur College’s ground for our home match because the Faridpur Stadium is occupied by the army. We managed to form a squad, but training has been difficult due to the poor condition of the ground.”

Committee chairman and BFF vice-president Wahid Uddin Ahmed informed the estimated cost for three ongoing tournaments -- the National Football Championship, the JFA U-14 Women’s Tournament, and the BFF U-17 Tournament -- is Tk 18 crore. Of this, Tk 10 crore comes from government funds, while the BFF expects to raise another Tk 8 crore. He could not, however, specify how much financial aid would be allocated to each district.

Meanwhile, the Youth and Sports secretary confirmed that the government has earmarked Tk 20 crore for the Festival of Youth, with Tk 10 crore set aside for football and the remainder distributed to districts and upazilas to host events nationwide.