Greetings! Welcome to the briefing of October 2018.
U15 boys into SAFF final
Bangladesh U15 national team has made it to the final of the SAFF U15 Championship 2018 by beating India 4-2 on penalties after the semi-final had ended 1-1.
Earlier, Bangladesh qualified for the semi-finals of the SAFF U15 Championship 2018 as group champions after beating rivals Maldives and Nepal.
After registering a huge 9-0 win over Maldives, the boys also beat hosts Nepal 2-1 even after playing with 10 men for a long time.
The boys have shown their mettle to do well in the regional tournament and we have full confidence in the boys to bring home some silverware.
U18 girls unbeaten SAFF Champions
Bangladesh won the maiden SAFF U18 Women’s Championship beating Nepal 1-0 in the final.
In the four matches they played in the tournament, the U18 girls scored 24 goals conceding only one.
The team beat Pakistan 17-0 in the first group match and then in the second, beat Nepal 2-1.
Bhutan suffered a 4-0 defeat in the semis to the Bengal girls and the tight final was won by our girls with a solitary goal.
The team continues to grow and the BFF is committed to provide the players with opportunities to prove themselves further.
U19 girls register first ever win in AFC qualifiers
Bangladesh U19 women’s national team beat hosts Tajikistan 5-1 to register their very first win of the AFC qualifiers.
Playing in Group D of the qualifying round of AFC U19 Women’s Championship 2019, Bangladesh were up against footballing powerhouses like South Korea, Chinese Taipei and Tajikistan.
The team gained valuable experience in the first game against Korea despite the loss. Then the girls fought hard against Chinese Taipei but lack of luck saw them go down 2-0. Determined to register at least one win in the qualifiers, the girls gave it their absolute best and some more in the final game against Tajikistan and recorded a thumping 5-1 victory against the hosts.
The team is now back in Dhaka and has resumed training at the residency camp at the BFF House.
Federation Cup proceeding smoothly
The Federation Cup, the season opening tournament, began on October 27 with the match between Chittagong Abahoni Ltd. and Rahmatganj MFS.
The tournament has all the clubs of the upcoming BPL season – 13 in total.
The teams are divided into 3 groups of 3 while only Group D contains four teams.
First, the teams will play against each other in groups in round robin format and then the tournament will enter the knockout stage – quarterfinal, semifinal and then the final on November 24.
The prize money for the champions is Tk 5 lakh and Tk 3 lakh for the runners-up.
I wish all the teams the very best of luck.
Fans can also enjoy the Federation Cup on the BFF website or on Channel 9.
First phase of BFF AFC B Certificate Coaching Course
The second AFC B Certificate Coaching Course organised by the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) began on October 10 to upgrade the credentials of the coaches with C level certificates.
A total of 24 coaches from across the country took part.
National Technical and Strategic Director Paul Thomas Smalley is conducting the course.
The course has been designed in line with the new concept introduced by AFC, the ‘Coaching Convention’.
The first part of the two-phase course ended on October 19.
The course is divided into two parts and only after the end of both phases, will the candidates undergo an evaluation before they are certified.
PM hosts grand reception for U16 girls
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina hosted a grand reception for Bangladesh U16 women’s national team at her official residence Ganabhaban on October 11.
The U16 girls triumphed in the recently concluded primary qualifying round of the AFC U16 Women’s Championship 2019 undefeated and topped the table to qualify for the second round of the qualifiers.
The red and greens locked horns against Bahrain, UAE, Vietnam and Lebanon at the Birshreshtha Shaheed Sipahi Mohammad Mostafa Kamal Stadium from September 15 to 23 and beat them all.
PM Sheikh Hasina handed over cheques worth Tk10 lakh to each of the members of the winning team and cheques of Tk 5 lakh to the officials.
Grand reception for U18 girls
Bangladesh emerged as the unbeaten champions of the maiden edition of SAFF U18 Women’s Championship held from September 28 to October 7 in Bhutan.
To congratulate the players on their brilliant performance, team sponsor Walton held a grand reception at the BFF House on October 14.
All the players of the U18 team received refrigerators and the team staff members received smartphones.
Bangabandhu Gold Cup 2018: Bangladesh make it to semis
Bangladesh bowed out of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup 2018 after making it to the semifinals against Palestine.
The men in red and green gave it all and played good football in all the three matches but eventual champions Palestine were too strong for the relatively young Bangladesh side.
Palestine claimed the prestigious trophy of Bangabandhu Gold Cup beating Tajikistan 4-3 on penalties after the final match ended in a goalless draw.
BFF, AFC join hands for underprivileged and Rohingya children
A delegation of Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) social responsibility wing Dream Asia Foundation completed a three-day visit to Bangladesh on October 17.
The three-person delegation included David Michael Borja, Advisor to the AFC President, Brian Suskiewicz, Chief Executive Strategist of Coaches Across Continents and Aditi Tyagi, Consultant, AFC.
Following their visits to the Rayerbazar slum in Dhaka and the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar, the AFC officials held a meeting with me at BFF House, where we discussed different aspects of the upcoming social programmes.
The BFF and AFC have joined hands to work for underprivileged children in Dhaka slums and Rohingya children in Cox’s Bazar refugee camps.
Slum children and refugees do not have the chance to play football. We can provide equipment and footballs and we can utilize the social power of football.
The AFC delegation was happy and pleased with the support we promised.
The AFC will soon come up with a concrete plan to set up a pilot project and the next phase will be a six-month action plan.
