Bashundhara Kings captain Topu Barman has urged supporters to avoid a repeat of last season’s smoke flare incident during the one-off Challenge Cup final against Mohammedan SC in Cumilla on Friday.

Despite having a vibrant underground futsal scene, Bangladesh has severely lacked formal structures, tournaments, and international experience in the sport. That is set to change, as the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has announced its participation in the upcoming AFC Futsal Asian Cup Qualifiers, scheduled for September.

Bangladesh’s 2-1 defeat to Singapore in the Asian Cup Qualifiers wasn’t just a defeat -- it was a missed opportunity to build something better with the right tools finally in hand. And that’s exactly what former striker and Mohammedan’s league-winning coach Alfaz Ahmed is talking about: we finally have the parts, but we don’t know how to assemble the machine.

With a month and a half left to Javier Cabrera’s extended contract, the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) is yet to take any decision whether to extend with the Spaniard or look for a replacement.

Mohammedan Sporting Club finished the season as runners-up in the Bangladesh Premier League for the first time in 14 years after finishing runners-up in two club competitions. Alfaz Ahmed, the man behind the resurgence of the Motijheel outfit, spoke with The Daily Star's Anisur Rahman about the process of rebuilding Mohammedan and many other aspects.

As Bashundhara Kings celebrated their historic fifth consecutive top-tier league title on Saturday, their closes rivals Mohammedan and Abahani – two of the most illustrious football clubs of the country – were left to rue the disparaging financial stability between the champions and the rest of the teams in the Bangladesh Premier League.

Footballer-turned-coach Alfaz Ahmed emphasised on professionalism at club level to build on Bangladesh’s impressive performance in 2023 for improved displays in the future. The legendary striker believes that there is no alternative to producing star players in order to bringing the glory days of football back.

Former Bangladesh national team star forward Alfaz Ahmed wants national players to showcase an attitude similar to the one they had yesterday in future fixtures as well, after the men in red and green confirmed their place in the World Cup Qualifiers for the third time in a row with a 2-1 win over Maldives in the second leg of the preliminary round on Tuesday.

 “I have always said that scoring a goal is the best feeling in the world,” legendary English striker Alan Shearer once said. In football, where goals decide destinies, it is a striker’s role to deliver balls to the back of the net.