BFF President’s statement for April, 2018
Greetings! Welcome to the briefing of April, 2018.
Bangladesh to begin SAFF Championship with Bhutan faceoff
The SAFF Suzuki Cup 2018, comprising of 7 countries under the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) umbrella, will kick off in Dhaka from September 4, 2018 with the Bangladesh vs Bhutan match.
The final fixture of the international tournament was set after raffle draws were held at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka on April 18.
Of the 7 teams, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Bhutan were drawn into Group A, while the rest — India, Maldives and Sri Lanka — were in Group B.
The group stages of the tournament will continue till September 9 and the two semis will be held on September 12.
Following two days of rest, the final of the SAFF Suzuki Cup 2018 will be hosted in Dhaka on September 15.
SAFF Congress 2018 held in Dhaka
The SAFF Congress 2018 was held at Pan Pacific Sonargaon in Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on April 11.
During the Congress, members made a commitment to take forward football of the subcontinent.
I am honoured to have been elected for a third term and have committed to working with my new colleagues over the next four years.
Vice Presidents of the new committee are Syed Khadim Ali Shah (Pakistan), Anura De Silva (Sri Lanka) and Mani Kunwar (Nepal). Uygen Wangchuk of Bhutan was elected as the treasurer.
The goal of the new committee will be to strengthen the bond among the seven associate nations to ensure better representation from the region in the AFC and FIFA competitions.
Women’s futsal team competing in AFC Championship
Bangladesh national women’s futsal team is now in Thailand to compete in the AFC Women’s Futsal Championship Thailand 2018.
This will be Bangladesh’s first ever participation in such a tournament.
Bangladesh are in Group B along with Malaysia, Vietnam and Chinese Taipei.
AFC GK Level 1 Coaching Course a success
The six-day AFC Goalkeepers’ Level 1 Coaching Course concluded successfully on April 30.
The second edition of the course began on April 25 with 14 participant goalkeeping coaches.
Among the 14, one participant was from Maldives and the rest were from various top level clubs of the country as well as from district level.
AFC Goalkeeping Instructor and Football Federation Australia’s National Goalkeeping Development Manager Dean May conducted the course.
The course included 2 days of theoretical coaching and 4 days of practical training as per the requirements of the modern game.
The participants expressed their happiness for being able to avail such a course at home.
The BFF, under its long term football development plan, will continue to arrange such courses in the future to train better GK coaches in order to develop talented goalkeepers.
AFC C License Coaching Course concludes
The fifth BFF AFC C License Coaching Course for football coaches concluded on April 17 at the BFF House in Motijheel, Dhaka.
The 14-day course is the fifth edition of the AFC C License Coaching Course held at the BFF with four previous editions being successfully completed in 2017.
National Technical and Strategic Director Paul Smalley, just like the previous four editions, conducted the course that begun on April 3rd.
A total of 24 student coaches are participating in the course, including 2 female coaches.
The BFF, according to its plan to develop elite coaches to build up elite players, plans to hold a total of 4 AFC C Certificate coaching courses this year.
AFC Coaching Convention Application
The BFF has submitted its Coaching Convention application which allows us the opportunity to be part of a new and modern coaching and education initiative in Asia.
We see the Coaching Convention as a valuable training tool in the education of our coaches. The regulations set out the minimum criteria for coach education in Asia, and establish a bilateral agreement for the mutual recognition of coaching diplomas between AFC’s Member Associations.
We will have the capacity, take responsibility for implementing the AFC coach education directives, while, at the same time, maintaining our own identity and developing our own approach to the game. The philosophy underlying the Convention promotes a progressive approach to coach education by focusing on the training of core competences and by encouraging self-reliance, reflection, creativity, problem solving and independent thinking.
Walton U-18 Football Tournament begins
The Walton U-18 Football Tournament 2017-18 has begun with 12 age group teams of the clubs of the last Bangladesh Premier League.
The tournament kicked off on April 26 and will continue till May 13 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.
The BFF is confident that the tournament will help to nurture and drill the upcoming players for the benefit of Bangladesh football.
Sabina-Krishna return from India
Sabina Khatun and Krishna Rani Sarker returned home on April 14 after finishing a successful campaign in the recently finished is Indian Women’s League 2018.
Their team Sethu FC made it to the semifinals of the tournament before missing out on the chance to secure berth in the final.
Our star striker Sabina Khatun scored 6 goals in 6 matches out of her team’s total tally of 11.
Renowned football media Goal.com described Sabina as ‘Bangladesh’s gift to Indian Women’s League’.
On the other hand, rising star Krishna also displayed glimpses of her capability when she got the chance.
I hope their prospects of playing professionally, along with the rest of the women players, will only grow with time.
Arambagh clinch 3rd division trophy
The month of April saw the successful completion of DMFLC 3rd Division League 2018.
Arambagh Football Academy clinched the DMFLC 3rd Division league title with 23 points in the Super League stage.
Kadamtala Sangshad were the runners-up with 18 points.
Three bottom teams of the league — Bangladesh Ansar & VDP, Kallal Sangha, Ctg and Govt. Printing Press S&R Club — were relegated to Pioneer Division from 3rd Division.
20 teams participated in the tournament in 2 stages. First, the teams competed in two groups of 10. And then top 5 teams of each group played for the Super League phase.
Referees’ promotion test held
A two-day promotion test of active national referees from level 3 to level 2 ended successfully on April 28, 2018 (Saturday).
The test began on April 27 (Friday) with theoretical class.
Then on Saturday, the physical fitness test was held from 7:00am to 11:00am at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.
Finally, a written test was held at 4:00pm for the aspiring referees.
A total of 65 referees from all over Bangladesh took part in the promotion test.
Earlier, on April 6, a total of 115 referees took part in a quarterly fitness for referees at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.
JFA U14 National Women’s Championship underway
The JFA U14 National Women’s Football Championship 2018 began on April 24 across the country.
The matches of the first round were held from April 24-27, 2018 at six venues.
Then from April 30, the final round of the tournament kicked off at the Bir Shrestha Sipahi Md Mostafa Kamal Stadium, Kamlapur, Dhaka.
School Football Tournament from May
The National School Football Tournament 2017-18, sponsored by Pran Milk Candy and powered by Good Luck, will kick off in the second week of May 2018.
All the matches of the tournament will be played in 7 venues of the country.
The venues are: Dhaka, Satkhira, Sylhet, Rangpur, Barisal, Chittagong and Rajshahi.
Nearly 60 district football teams will participate in the tournament.
The teams will be provided participation money along with players’ jersey, shorts, socks and other accessories.
Quarterly Fitness Test, of referees held
Bangladesh Football Federation, in association with the BFF Referees Committee organized a quarterly fitness for referees on April 6 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.
A total of 115 referees took part in the training session.
The 2nd and 3rd sessions will be held on August 3 and December 7 respectively at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.
District Football League 2018 on the docks
BFF members held a meeting to discuss the nationwide District Football League 2018 which aims to develop football from the grassroots.
The meeting decided to grant each district Tk 3 lakh to arrange the tournament.
League committee presidents were given Tk 1 lakh in cheque with the rest to follow in phases.
BFF has decided to provide trainers and other auxiliary support for advanced training.
Kiron, Maria among Anannya Top Ten award winners
Mahfuza Akhter Kiron, Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) female representative on the FIFA Council and Chairperson of the BFF Women’s Football committee, and Maria Manda, captain of the National U15 Women’s Team won this year’s Anannya Top Ten Awards.
The duo from BFF received their Anannya Shirshodash 2017 awards at a ceremony in Dhaka on April 7.
