Atique Anam

Season opener highlights football’s ground realities

In a repeat encounter of last season’s Challenge Cup fixture, Federation Cup winners Bashundhara Kings thrashed Bangladesh Premier League champions Mohammedan by 4-1 in the curtain-raiser of the new football season at the Shaheed Dhirendranath Dutta Stadium in Cumilla yesterday..

20 September 2025, 02:30 AM

Interview / ‘Modern football demands athletes’

In a freewheeling interview with The Daily Star's Atique Anam at the team hotel in Dhaka, the former West Ham United midfielder opened up about his football methodology, plans for the future, the shortcomings of the federation, men's football, and the controversies he has found himself in.

27 July 2025, 04:00 AM

'Time the officials paid back for the sacrifice of players and coaching staff'

In a conversation with The Daily Star, Alfaz Ahmed spoke about the secret of Mohammedan's success in the league and what he expects from the club in the wake of this title triumph.

18 May 2025, 09:00 AM

‘Hamza has helped us raise the level and quality of our game’

In this interview with The Daily Star, Bangladesh Football Federation president Tabith Awal spoke about both women's and men's teams and the controversies surrounding football.

7 April 2025, 02:00 AM

Bangladesh football riding the Hamza wave

When Bangladesh football team captain Jamal Bhuiyan told the press on Thursday, “It feels our [Lionel] Messi is here,” about the arrival of Hamza Choudhury, he wasn’t exaggerating.

22 March 2025, 01:00 AM

Rebel women footballers at a dead end?

The 18 senior players of Bangladesh national women’s team, who have been boycotting training since head coach Peter Butler returned to the country, seem to have shot themselves on the foot after refusing to sign contracts offered by the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) on Monday.

12 February 2025, 02:04 AM

The World Cup should not be a mere extension of the IPL

For those cricket fans who have got used to enjoying the sight of batters steamrolling bowlers of all ilk over the past 65 days or so, will the forthcoming T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies may prove to be a bit of a turn-off.

28 May 2024, 18:00 PM

Should Murshedy get away with sweeping dirt under the rug?

In stark contrast to many developed nations where people in power often relinquish their positions in face of charges of corruption or incompetence even before allegations are proved in a show of true accountability -- there is a disturbing tendency to brush aside all sorts of allegations, even after proven, under the rug by the people in power in countries like Bangladesh, which ranks among the lowest in various corruption indexes.

25 May 2024, 02:00 AM

Rio sets its own standard

The opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympics on Friday night did not feature any of the tech gimmicks or futuristic visual

6 August 2016, 18:00 PM

The party begins

Friday started in a frenzy in Rio. Brilliant sunshine had people swarming all over the sidewalks and beaches. Long tailbacks

6 August 2016, 18:00 PM

Rio, where two worlds collide

Getting your way around in Rio is an exhausting experience in itself. Here people hardly speak English, which makes your job

5 August 2016, 18:00 PM

Brazilians get one over Argentina

Brazilians do love their football. And it seems they do love to hate Argentina, or at least Argentine football teams.

5 August 2016, 18:00 PM

Brazilian exoticism to highlight opening

The football event of the Rio Olympics 2016 may have already kicked off, but the real deal starts in earnest on Friday when the

4 August 2016, 18:00 PM

Fever not yet contagious

There is something amiss about Rio de Janeiro at the moment. With less than 24 hours to the opening ceremony of the 2016

4 August 2016, 18:00 PM

Rio gears up for Games

While the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympic Games is still close to 48 hours away, the games officially got underway yesterday through the women's football match between Sweden and South Africa.

3 August 2016, 18:00 PM

In the land of the great divide

The nightscape of Rio de Janeiro is quite brilliant. From up above at night-time, this sprawling city of close to 500 square

3 August 2016, 18:00 PM

Bangladesh lose narrowly this time

Bangladesh lose their second-leg of the Asian Cup qualifying playoff against Tajikistan 1-0 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium today to suffer a 6-0 aggregate defeat.

7 June 2016, 14:23 PM

What about the promised land?

Ever since Muhammad Ali's historic visit to Bangladesh 37 years ago, there has been this occasional speculation in local media as to what happened to the piece of land in Cox's Bazar which was promised to the legendary boxer.

4 June 2016, 07:17 AM

'Couldn't sleep for three nights'

He went close to creating history by winning the Mauritius Open on the European Tour before relinquishing his pole position because of one bad shot. Even so, he stands on the cusp of being the first Bangladeshi to directly qualify for the Olympics.

30 May 2016, 18:00 PM

SIDDIKUR chokes again

Struggle, struggle, surprise, disappointment. This seems to have become a pattern for Siddikur Rahman these days. Past his heady

15 May 2016, 18:00 PM

The Ronaldo of Bhutan

He has the same swagger as Cristiano Ronaldo; he even has the same hairstyle and the same shirt number as his idol. And like the Portuguese striker, he is the most valuable player of his side.

28 December 2015, 18:00 PM

Booters salvage face-saving win

Bangladesh ended their nightmarish SAFF Suzuki Cup campaign with a face-saving 3-0 victory over 10-man Bhutan at the Greenfield Stadium in Trivandrum yesterday. Topu Barman gave the men in red the lead with a header in the 8th minute before Shakhawat Hossain Rony scored on either side of the break as Bangladesh won their first points after defeats against holders Afghanistan (4-0) and Maldives (3-1).

28 December 2015, 18:00 PM

'Bangladeshis are nice people'

Ali Ashfaq -- a name that evokes admiration and inspiration in equal measure. In the context of South Asian football, he is a giant, with a career adorned by many an accolade. Ashfaq has been playing for the Maldives national team for such a long time and has such an excellent record in front of goal -- the 30-year-old forward has scored 46 times in 104 international matches in a career spanning 11 years and he also holds the highest scorer's

27 December 2015, 18:00 PM

History keeps repeating itself

It seems as though Bangladesh have resigned themselves to the fate of being early contenders to exit from the SAFF Championships, a tournament where they once used to walk into the semifinals. It seems as though they have got into the habit of causing their own downfall and giving their supporters lots of reason to remonstrate before the exit.

26 December 2015, 18:00 PM

The future is here

The Greenfield Stadium in Trivandrum is a place for the future. Perched on a hillock in the suburb called Karyavattom, some 17 kilometres from the city-centre, Greenfield is the epicentre of a sporting hub, which belies its location and the meagre importance of Kerala in India's sporting map.

24 December 2015, 18:00 PM

A shambolic start

All the pre-tournament talk of resolve and redemption from the Bangladesh players came to nothing as they made a shambolic start to their SAFF Suzuki Cup campaign, a phenomenon becoming all-too-familiar in recent times, going down against defending champions Afghanistan 4-0 at the Sports Hub of Trivandrum yesterday.

24 December 2015, 18:00 PM

Booters eye redemption

The mood in the Bangladesh camp and that of their first match opponents, Afghanistan, couldn't have been any more contrasting on the eve of today's Group B fixture of the SAFF Cup. While the Afghans were causing a hubbub over organisational inefficiency, Bangladesh were trying to maintain a low profile while keeping their focus on the match against the defending champions.

23 December 2015, 18:00 PM

Trivandrum misses the vibe

As the football world reeled from the sensational punishments meted out to the two most powerful men of the game, one idyllic city in

22 December 2015, 18:00 PM