Once a major attraction in the 1980s and 1990s, the National Football Championship had faded in popularity over the years. After a break of three years, the new BFF committee has revived the competition, and tomorrow’s final will see Sirajganj and Dinajpur compete for their first-ever title. A press conference was held at the BFF headquarters ahead of the big match.
Sirajganj coach Mahbub Alam Peer expressed his excitement about reaching the final for the first time in four decades.
“𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝑺𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒋𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒋 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. 𝑫𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒋𝒑𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒎 𝑨𝒉𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒕’𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒄𝒚, 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈, “𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 400 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚, 𝒚𝒆𝒕 𝒘𝒆’𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑. 𝑾𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒚 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆.”
Sirajganj Captains Confident as Venue and Preparations Discussed
Dinajpur captain Masud Rana believes his team has a slight edge because several of their players regularly train on turf, the same surface used at Kamalapur Stadium, where the final will be held. Sirajganj captain Milan Kashem remained unfazed by the opposition’s confidence: “We’ve proved ourselves by reaching the final. We’ll give our best and try to return home as champions.”
The final was originally planned to be held at the National Stadium with the AFC President as the chief guest. However, BFF vice-president Wahid Uddin Chowdhury explained the changes:
“𝑫𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝑭𝑪 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕’𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒚 𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒖𝒎, 𝒘𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝑲𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒑𝒖𝒓.”
Though the break between the semifinals and the final affected momentum, Dinajpur coach Shamim felt the extra preparation time was beneficial for his players. Sirajganj will broadcast the match on a big screen for fans, while two buses of supporters from Dinajpur will travel nearly 400 km to cheer for their team. The champions will receive Tk 5 lakh, and the runners-up will receive Tk 3 lakh.
BFF officials also highlighted the developmental success of this year’s tournament. From the quarter-final stage, 43 young talents have been identified for training at the BFF Elite Academy. Plans are already in place to hold an Under-17 National Championship.
While the early rounds were held in home-and-away format and later stages at neutral venues, several districts still face challenges due to poor stadium conditions, forcing matches to be played in alternative locations.
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