‘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
History-makers Kings playing a different ball-game
After referee Symoon Hasan Sunny blew the final whistle following Bashundhara Kings’ 2-1 win against Mohammedan in Mymensingh yesterday, ensuring the Kings’ historic fifth consecutive title of the Bangladesh Premier League, two-goal hero Dorielton Gomes sunk to his knees before laying on the ground, thanking the heavens for what they had just achieved.
11 May 2024, 18:30 PM
Cabrera losing Salahuddin’s trust?
The BFF boss watched from the VIP Box of the Bashundhara Kings Arena on Tuesday as Bangladesh conceded a stoppage time goal in a 1-0 home loss against the Middle Eastern nation, five days after being thrashed 5-0 by the same side in Kuwait.
28 March 2024, 01:00 AM
‘We are back to where we were 20 years ago’
In an interview over phone with The Daily Star, golfer Siddikur Rahman spoke about the disappointment of the last season, his target for the new season, the changes in his game and in the golfing landscape overall and other aspects.
17 February 2024, 01:40 AM
With better planning and prep, things can only get better
Following the 5-0 defeat against Qatar in a World Cup qualifying fixture in Doha on Friday night, Bangladesh coach Jamie Day was quick to emphasise that the margin of defeat, despite it being the biggest of his tenure, was not an unexpected one. Instead, the coach wanted to take the positives from the match while looking forward to what comes next.
5 December 2020, 18:00 PM
Better safe than sorry
Bangladesh’s premier golfer Siddikur Rahman is prepared to forego the riches on offer in the Indian tour and even the lure of a second Olympics participation in order to be safe and secure from the clutches of Covid-19.
29 November 2020, 18:00 PM
An unyielding spirit
An iconic footballer and sports organiser, Badal Roy lost his battle with cancer and breathed his last in Dhaka on Sunday.
23 November 2020, 18:00 PM
Get well soon, Jamie Day
When watching Italy take on Poland in a crucial Nations League fixture on Sunday night, it was hard not to draw a few parallels between the four-time world champions and Bangladesh, one of the lowest-ranked footballing nations in the world.
16 November 2020, 18:00 PM
A fourth false dawn?
In the late hours of Saturday, following an exhausting-yet-satisfying BFF Elective Congress when Kazi Salahuddin, surrounded by his jubilant panel members, announced to media that he “would work together with those from the opposition panel for the love and betterment of football”, one could not help wonder whether he was speaking from a script from 12 years ago or, for that matter, eight or even four years ago.
4 October 2020, 18:00 PM
Golfers left in the lurch
The Kurmitola Golf Club inside the Dhaka Cantonment should have been abuzz with members, golfers and caddies: playing, practising and spending a lively time golfing and in social activities. Instead, the sumptuous clubhouse and the sprawling course -- the finest in the country -- is deserteded. There is an eerie silence about this place, a silence that reverberates around a dozen or so public and private golf courses around the country.
27 June 2020, 18:00 PM
Reminiscence: My first match
The first match I watched live from a venue, unless my memory deceives me, was the India v Pakistan cricket match during the 1988 Wills Asia Cup in Dhaka.
1 April 2020, 18:00 PM
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
Had it not been for the South Asian Games towards the end of the year, it would have been really difficult to gauge the performance of myriad sports, which do not get the exposure and competitive platforms that cricket and football have.
30 December 2019, 18:00 PM
The highs and lows for Bangladesh
Gaurika Singh, the Nepal’s swimming sensation, was for the second time the headline of almost all the national newspaper front pages on Tuesday as the country wrapped up the 13th South Asian Games with unprecedented success.
10 December 2019, 18:00 PM
Hosts shine as SA Games conclude
The 13th South Asian Games came to an end yesterday, bringing the curtain down on the largest multi-discipline sporting extravaganza of the region at the Dasarath Rangasala in Kathmandu.
10 December 2019, 18:00 PM
Archery hits bullseye
Ety Khatun and Suma Biswash, two of the lesser-known archers from Bangladesh, could not hold back their tears as they rose to prominence by winning gold medals in the 13th South Asian Games to lead the country to unprecedented success, both for the discipline and the country.
9 December 2019, 18:00 PM
Archers create history
Bangladesh’s archers swept all 10 gold medals of the 13th South Asian Games, cruising to the title in the four events decided yesterday and in doing so, set a few individual and collective records in Pokhara.
9 December 2019, 18:00 PM
Archery gets Ety a life of gold
14-year-old Ety Khatun could have been doing household chores in a village in Chuwadanga had she not restrained her parents from arranging her marriage two years ago.
8 December 2019, 18:00 PM
Archers bring best day for Bangladesh
The recently-constructed Rangasala in Pokhara yesterday became the scene of Bangladesh’s most successful day in the history of the South Asian Games, turning into a gold-mine for the country, who won seven gold medals yesterday -- the single-best haul for Bangladesh, beating the previous best of four golds on a single day from the 2010 edition held in Dhaka.
8 December 2019, 18:00 PM
Soumya the big star of SA Games
Soumya Sarkar might have failed to score big against Nepal, but there was no failure in drawing fans wherever he goes since coming to Kathmandu for the 13th South Asian Games.
7 December 2019, 18:00 PM
Mabia ushers in second gold rush
Mabia Akter Simanta ended Bangladesh’s three-day gold-drought at the 13th South Asian Games yesterday before two more gold medals on the day turned it into Bangladesh’s best day of the Games since Day 3.
7 December 2019, 18:00 PM
Ardina brings some relief for shooters
Ardina Ferdous was overcome with joy after she won a silver medal in the women’s individual 10m air pistol event of the 13th South Asian Games at the Satdobato Sports Complex in Kathmandu yesterday.
6 December 2019, 18:00 PM
Bronze stacks up amid silver lining
The front pages of most of the national newspapers in Nepal on Friday were flush with blown-up pictures of Gaurika Singh, the Nepalese swimmer who just won her country its first-ever swimming individual gold in the history of the South Asian Games.
6 December 2019, 18:00 PM
In hospital instead of athletics track
Bangladesh’s 400m sprint hope Zahir Raihan and fellow sprinter Abu Taleb failed to participate in the final of the event yesterday, owing to breathing problems and high pulse-rates due to the high altitude of Kathmandu, raising serious questions about the Bangladesh Olympic Association and Bangladesh Athletics Federation’s preparation and planning regarding the 13th South Asian Games.
5 December 2019, 18:00 PM
Baki’s wait for gold continues
Bangladesh’s best rifle shooter Abdullahel Baki’s wait for a gold medal in South Asian Games continued as he settled for a bronze in his pet event of 10m air rifle on the fifth day of the Games, which proved to be another gold-less day for the country.
5 December 2019, 18:00 PM