New hope for hockey league

There is a new hope regarding staging of Premier Division Hockey League as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has promised to donate Tk 1 crore to Bangladesh Hockey Federation (BHF).

The game's local governing body could not hold the top-flight league for nearly three years as most of the lower-table clubs showed their inability to form squads due to financial constraints, which deepened due to the pandemic.

In the last meeting of the league committee, most of the clubs sought financial help from the BHF to take part in the league. BHF president Air Chief Marshal Masihuzzaman Serniabat sought financial help from the Prime Minister to organise the league, BHF's acting general secretary Mohammad Yousuf informed yesterday.

"We are in the process of getting the promised money from the Prime Minister's Office but don't know when we will receive it," Yousuf said. "After getting the money, we will try to sit with the clubs' high-ups in presence of the BHF president because we want to hold the league this year."

The participating clubs took the news positively even though there is uncertainty among some officials.

"Actually we don't know anything about it officially. If the federation provides financial help, it becomes easy for the small clubs to take part in the league. We also want the players to be benefited from the league but the covid-19 situation is a crucial factor at the moment," said Victoria SC's sports secretary Nuruzzaman.

Dhaka Mariner Youngs Club's hockey secretary Badrul Islam said, "I heard it unofficially. If the federation meets at least 50 percent demand of the clubs, there is no reason for us not to play the league. No doubt, the donation will brighten the chance of starting the league but there are also some issues to settle as some clubs are still closed since the casino scandal and those clubs need to get their tents open to run camp for the league."

Abahani's hockey secretary and BHF vice-president Jaki Ahmed Ripon is, however, not sure about the nature of the donation as he believes the fund the Prime Minister promised to provide is for other purposes including arrangement of international competitions such as Junior Asia Cup and Asian Champions Trophy in Dhaka.

"No discussion regarding the Tk 1 crore fund has taken place yet and the federation will decide in which sectors they will spend this fund," Ripon said, adding that Abahani is always in favour of playing.

He also added that the current situation of coronavirus is not suitable for the league to be held and that clubs like Victoria SC, Wanderers Club and Dilkusha SC need to get the tents opened to run camps.