Youth games from October?
The Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) on Monday decided in principle to hold the First Bangladesh Youth Games from October this year.
The meeting of the executive committee of the BOA, held at the Kurmitola Golf Club with president General Abu Belal Mohammad Shadiul Haq, took the decision to start this event, which is scheduled to run from October 20017 up to February 2018, in a bid to unearth young and promising sports stars from the upazila level.
However, there are issues surrounding the Games as the budget has not been sanctioned for the current fiscal year, which is why the Games have been deferred to a tentative start date in October.
Badal Roy, convenor of the committee for the proposed youth games, explained the reasons behind such an ambitious project. “There are few things still to be sorted out so we are having discussions. The main reason for undertaking such a project is that there is a shortage of sportsmen and women in several disciplines. So we hope this event will help us find some emerging talents who will meet the current demand. We haven't yet decided on which disciplines there will be games, but hopefully we can start the games by October,” said Roy.
Group Captain (retd) Rafiqul Islam, member secretary of the Training and Development Committee of BOA, informed that the proposed budget will be between Tk 18 to 20 crore.
“We proposed a Tk 20 crore budget to the National Sports Council, but we have been told that the budget may be sanctioned in the next fiscal year, which is why we will be holding it after July.”
“Badal [Roy] wanted the games to be held from the union level, but that would not be possible. So the Games will run from the upazila level and from there district teams will be formed. Those district teams will move to the divisional level before the final phase, which will be held in Dhaka,” Rafiqul added.
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