Happy new year! Welcome to the briefing of December 2018
U15 boys shine in UEFA friendly tournament
Bangladesh showed what they are capable of in the UEFA U-15 Men’s Youth Tournament 2018 in Thailand.
The boys lost to Cyprus 0-4, drew with Thailand 1-1 and thrashed Maldives 10-0 in the tournament held from December 10-14.
The reigning South Asian champions played beautiful football in all the matches and gave it their best.
Even though Cyprus were too hot to handle for the Red and Greens, the boys did come back strongly in the next two matches as they had promised.
I met the boys on December 6 before their flight and I am happy to say that they performed up to the mark.
The federation hopes that this bunch of talented boys will bring more glory in future and the BFF will always be by their side.
Bashundhara Kings clinch maiden Independence Cup title
Newcomers Bashundhara Kings have won their maiden Independence Cup title triumphing over 12 renowned teams in the prestigious Walton Independence Cup Football Tournament.
They defeated three-time winner Sheikh Russel KC 2-1 in the final on December 26 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.
Bashundhara Kings had earlier become runners-up in the Federation Cup 2018 in November but they made no mistake in clinching the title this time around.
BFF-UNICEF collaboration to give girl power a boost
UNICEF Bangladesh signed a two-year partnership agreement with Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) on December 3 in order to bolster girls’ empowerment through football.
The agreement is a part of UNICEF’s long-term commitment to make sports available for all, especially women and girls.
The UNICEF logo will be placed on the shirts of the National Under-16 Girl’s Football Team for all national and international matches and practice sessions.
In addition, UNICEF will be working closely with BFF to encourage more girls to participate in football by organising national talent hunts and football tournaments covering all the 64 districts of Bangladesh on a yearly basis.
Elite Women’s Residency Programme
The BFF House hosts the top 47 talented and gifted female players covering age groups from U15 to seniors.
All the players train multiple times a day with additional personal programmes which all players individually complete.
All players are encouraged to experiment with their dietary requirements and players are encouraged to continue their studies which is organised each evening.
Training is ongoing, systematic and occurs every day.
The players, their personal needs, competition schedule – training is constructed with all this in mind.
Every year, there is an identified new young age group invited to the BFF House ready for the SAFF annual competition calendar.
In 2019, important competitions for the U15, U16 and senior groups are coming up both in the SAFF and the AFC.
Moreover, the BFF plans to create a full time male residency programme from U14 to U19 in line with the structure of the female programme.
Coaching and Education
As part of the 2017 BFF strategic football plan, coach education and development is a key priority.
The aim of this programme to provide education and development opportunities for all coaches working at all levels of the game in Bangladesh.
Over the last two years, the BFF have certificated nearly 200 new coaches in outfield, goalkeeping and instructing qualifications. The BFF also reaccredited over 100 existing coaches in 2017.
At the higher levels, B and A Certificate holder coaches have the option to attend weekly workshops which is both a requirement of their courses and to claim CPD hours for their individual coaches profiles.
Notably, the BFF has also implemented a database for coaches and compiled information of all the coaches.
Each year, there is a range of coaching courses to suit the needs of all coaches.
The plan is to try and create a regional coaching education delivery mechanism in all of the 8 divisions.
AFC and FIFA have been impressed by the growth and progress that the Federation have made.
Fortis Sports Ground under consideration for potential football academy
We visited Fortis Sports Ground on Beraid Madani Avenue on December 7 as part of venue inspection for BFF Football Academy that is on the cards.
We checked the availability of facilities needed for the football academy.
I am quite satisfied with the venue but let us see what the future holds.
FIFA MA Refereeing Course held
The ‘FIFA MA Refereeing Course’ was held in Dhaka from 16th to 20th December 2018.
The FIFA supervised course saw 30 top referees of the country taking part. They include five women while 10 other referees acted as observers.
The course was conducted by FIFA Officials Ravichandran Chappanimutu and Alan Snoddy.
CAC social responsibility programme training
The BFF and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in cooperation with Coaches Across Continents (CAC) under the Social Responsibility Programme would organise football training camps and matches for street children and young Rohingya refugees at Dhaka and Cox’s Bazar from November 30, 2018 to September 2019.
As part of the first phase of the programme, the BFF and AFC with assistance from JAAGO Foundation conducted football training for street children in Dhaka from November 30 to December 3 and from December 5 to 10, the training will be carried out in Rohingya camps with the assistance from UNHCR.
The trainees were given footballs, certificates and other sporting gears.
These certificate holders started the main training programme of the Social Responsibility Programme in the Rohingya camps of Cox’s Bazar December 4.
CP Football Coaches Education Course held
The closing ceremony of CP Football Coaches Education Course was held on December 16 at the auditorium of the BFF House Motijheel, Dhaka.
The Association of Research Development and Rights Implementation for disabilities (ARDRID) together with National Paralympic Committee of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Football Federation organized
International Federation of CP Football which started December 13.
A total of 35 national and international football coaches took part in the training programme.
They were trained under the guidance of the International Federation of CP Football Sam Turner and Rene Jurrius.
BFF honour members of Swadhin Bangla Football Team
The Bangladesh Football Federation hosted a reception for the members of the Swadhin Bangla Football Team on the occasion of the Victory Day.
I was present at the programme along with other distinguished members of the legendary team.
Rangpur win Bangabandhu U17 Gold Cup Football Tournament
Rangpur division won the Jatir Pita Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Gold Cup Football Tournament (U-17) beating Rajshahi 2-1 in the final on December 23.
Apon Chondro and Md Shamim Islam scored for Rangpur while Ahad pulled one back for Rajshahi.
Rangpur’s Shamim Islam was the top scorer of the tournament while Apon Chondro Ray was named the player of the tournament.
The award ceremony was attended by honourable President Abdul Hamid alongside others.
