Anisur Rahman

Fearing less support from sponsors in the post-Covid-19 era, most national sports federations are looking for more financial allocation from the government in the 2020-21 fiscal year, but the Ministry for Youth and Sports is apparently moving forward with plans to placea conventional sports budget in the parliamentary session.

Country’s sports-loving people were supposed to spend busy time now watching glowing performances of foreign and local players in events scheduled as part of birth centenary celebration of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, but the coronavirus pandemic has put a damper on all the planning, depriving the spectators from the events.

They are used to battling it out on the field of play and have often succeed over their opponents by applying skill, technique and intelligence. Tales of the national age-group women’s football teams’ triumphson the international stage have become common in the country’s sports fraternity.

As the countrywide shutdown that lasted for more than two months to contain the spread of coronavirus came to a halt yesterday, different sectors in the country have reopened and sports are no exception.

Having gathered experience from Asian Junior and Girls Online Chess (Zone-3.2) competition held on Thursday, Bangladesh Chess Federation (BCF) is planning to organise an online chess tournament for the local players to keep them active amid the coronavirus pandemic.

After a two-month shutdown enforced to contain the spread of coronavirus, the government announced on Wednesday that the country will reopen on May 31 to keep the economy rolling. Major national sports federations want to follow the instructions to open their respective offices but also want to observe the situation before resuming sporting activities.

Terming Bangladesh Football Federation’s (BFF) decision to abandon the rest of the 2019-20 season as poor and an outcome of bad judgement, the national footballers have claimed to be in the dark regarding their contract renewals with clubs. The clubs have, however, demanded to retain the services of the same players in the new season.

The majority of stakeholders of the Bangladesh Premier League have reached a consensus regarding the cancellation of the season, which has been suspended since March 16 due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Although fencing is a centuries-old sport and has been featured in Olympics since the beginning of the modern games, it is relatively new in Bangladesh.

Nearly two months after the postponement of the Bangladesh Premier League in light of the coronavirus outbreak, the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has been stuck in a state of indecision about whether to resume the league even as a majority of clubs have been clamouring for the season to be cancelled.

Grand Master Enamul Hossain Rajib can now breathe fresh air outside his sister’s house in Mainz, Germany after spending two months inside the house due to coronavirus lockdown. The country’s youngest GM is eagerly waiting for the resumption of international flights to return to Bangladesh.

Despite winning a gold medal in the South Asian (SA) Games in Nepal last December, weightlifter Ziarul Islam could not grab headlines owing to the presence of Mabia Akter Simanta, who too won a gold medal on the same day to achieve a rate feat of clinching gold medals for Bangladesh in consecutive editions.

India sit at around 100 in the FIFA rankings, Maldives and Nepal have been playing competitive football for a long time while Bhutan are also showing potential at international level. These improvements are due to the countries’ effective plans that are focused on youth development.

National booter Bishwanath Ghosh may think himself lucky, especially when compared to his other national teammates, as unlike them the promising right-back is regularly availing gym facilities in the midst of the national shutdown caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

While in home confinement, chess players have found it ideal time to hone their skills through playing chess online.

“As there are hardly any fitness trainers at club level, most coaches have to look after the fitness aspect of the players.

Although the Premier Division Hockey League has not been held for the last two and a half years,

After the Liberation War, hockey was tipped as the sport holding the most potential after the ever-popular football. While, unlike football,

Determination and hard work might have given Marzan Akter Priya overwhelming success within three years of stepping into the karate mat, but the South Asian (SA) Games gold medallist is seemingly losing interest in the sport due to its bleak future in Bangladesh.

When some top national hockey players joined Bangladesh Navy in 2013, an argument over the justification of their joining the services team had made the rounds in the hockey fraternity.