Greetings! Welcome to the briefing of August 2018.
Brilliant run of national team in Asian Games
The Bangladesh U23 team had on a great run at the Asian Games reaching the Round of 16 for the first time in history.
The Red and Greens stuttered a little in the first match where they were beaten 3-0 by a much superior Uzbekistan side. However, the team bounced back to hold Thailand to a 1-1 draw — where they were still unlucky to drop two points, as Thailand scored in the dying minutes of the match. The U23 boys then brought out their best in the third and final match where they beat Qatar 1-0 thanks to an injury time goal by skipper Jamal Bhuiyan. Then in the Round of 16 match against Asian powerhouse North Korea, the team fought hard but ultimately lost 3-1.
The BFF had arranged two overseas training camps in Qatar and South Korea where they played several practice matches to sharpen their skills before the team headed to Indonesia for the games and we all witnessed how the training paid off.
Valiant U15 girls become SAFF runners-up
The U15 girls, in yet another scintillating campaign, became the runners-up in SAFF Championship.
Even though the team lost the final 1-0 to India, their competency was there for all to witness in the 3 matches of the group stage and the semifinal where they scored 22 goals, including 14 against Pakistan, 3 against Nepal and 5 against hosts Bhutan without conceding any goal.
Tohura Khatun and Shamsunnahar were the top scorers of the tournament with 4 goals along with two other players.
Bangladesh were also awarded the fair play trophy for having the best disciplinary record of the competition.
The U15 girls are now back in the Elite Women’s Residency Camp where they continue their development process waiting to take up the next challenge.
Curtain rises on the SAFF Suzuki Cup on Sept 4
The SAFF Suzuki Cup is set to be held at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka starting from September 4.
All of the seven SAFF nations will take part in this edition of the tournament.
Bangladesh will compete in Group A against Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan whereas the other group consists of India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
The final will take place on September 15. All necessary steps have already been taken including hospitality and security.
AFC B and A Certificate Course candidate practical support workshops
Further to our recent AFC B and A Certificate Courses, our commitment to supporting and developing coaches at this level has seen an organization of practical coaching support workshops.
These workshops will be organized every month to assist coaches who have attended these courses to practise their practical coaching delivery on the field with players.
Our National Technical Director has worked tirelessly in working with coaches on a more modernized up-to–date practical coaching delivery, which sees the players and their learning as the main goal. This is a very important area of our work and we will continue to develop the coaching and education scheme at the BFF.
AFC U16 Women’s Championship 2019 qualifiers
The Group F matches of the qualifiers tournament for the AFC U16 Women’s Championship for next year will be held at the BSSSM Mostofa Kamal Stadium in Kamlapur, Dhaka starting September 15.
A total of 5 teams will compete including Bahrain, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Vietnam and hosts Bangladesh. The tournament will continue till September 23.
Nilphamari enters international football arena
The northern district of Nilphamari has gotten itself on the international football map with its first FIFA football match on August 29 between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Even though Bangladesh suffered a 1-0 upset at the hands of the islanders, the enthusiasm of the capacity crowd at the Sheikh Kamal Stadium in Nilphamari proved the popularity of the game once again.
The excitement among the Nilphamari residents was such that all tickets, more than 15,000, of the game were sold out within an hour.
National U15 boys Residency Programme
National U15 boy’s residency programme has recently commenced after comprehensive national wide scouting activities. The players are undergoing a rigorous training campaign in their residency camp at the Sheikh Kamal Stadium training facility in Nilphamari.
The camp began on August 10 and will continue long term with the SAFF championship on October 25 in Nepal on the horizon.
A total of 32 boys are training day in day out with a view to claim the upcoming SAFF U15 title in late October.
The BFF with the support of the National Technical Director Paul Smalley has sent a coaching team to Nilphamari in order to work with the players on a day to day basis.
The head coach of the group is Mostofa Anowar Parvez with assistant coaches Jaan-e-Alom Nury (Rahel), Mahbubul Alom Paulo, Rashed Ahmed Pappu and goalkeeping coach Mijanur Rahman Minar.
Kiron elected as SWAFF ExCo member
BFF Women’s Football Committee chairperson Mahfuza Akter Kiron had yet another feather added to her cap when she was elected as one of the executive committee members of the newly formed football coalition South West Asian Football Federation (SWAFF).
Already on the BFF executive committee, an AFC executive member and a FIFA councillor, Kiron was made an SWAFF ExCo member in an election during the SWAFF Congress on August 12 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The Bangladesh Football Federation congratulates Kiron on her latest achievement and wishes her the best of luck.
Bangabandhu Gold Cup from Oct 1
Bangabandhu Gold Cup 2018 is going to be held from October 1-12 in memory of the founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with six countries taking part.
Bangladesh has been drawn in Group B of the 6-nation tournament along with Laos and Philippines whereas Nepal, Palestine and Tajikistan have been drawn in Group A.
The matches will be played at Dhaka’s Bangabandhu National Stadium and the Sylhet District Stadium.
The group matches will take place in Sylhet while the semis and the final match will take place in Dhaka.
Notably, the BFF signed an entitlement agreement with K-Sports for the tournament on August 9, at an official ceremony at the BFF House in Dhaka’s Motijheel.
Second Quarterly Fitness Test of referees
Bangladesh Football Federation, in association with the referees committee organized the second quarterly fitness test of referees on August 3 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.
A total of 107 referees took part in the 2nd phase.
The first phase of the quarterly tests was held on April 6 while the third and final phase will be held on December 7 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.
1st class referees’ promotion exam
Organized by the BFF, the first class referee promotion test for registered second class referees of the country was held at the BFF House in Motijheel, Dhaka from August 30-31.
The BFF Referees Committee ran the test which began with a class on the first day.
The physical fitness test and the written exam were held the next day.
A total of 35 second class referees took part to elevate their credentials.
