Futsal League (Men’s & Women’s) begins today
A new thrill is being added to the country’s sports arena. Today, the curtain will be raised of Futsal League (Men’s & Women’s) for the first time at the Shaheed Suhrawardi Indoor Stadium in Mirpur.
Before this, a Futsal League has never been officially organised in Bangladesh. With the participation of both men’s and women’s teams from 11 clubs, this tournament will be a historic moment on the country’s football map.
Bangladesh Army, Ansar, BKSP, Chandpur District, Dhaka Athletic, Fakir FC, IM Ten, Sports Field Logistics, Techville Futsal Club, Warrior Sports Academy and Xenon FC will compete in the inaugural edition. Three matches will be held on the first day.
The women’s team of the Bangladesh Army and BKSP will face each other in the first match, which will kick-off at 5:00pm. The men’s division of the same two teams will meet each other, which will start at 7:00pm. And Xenon FC will face Dhaka Athletic at 9:00pm.
IM Ten FC in particular have formed a ‘dream team’. Their team will feature SAFF Futsal winners Sabina Khatun, Krishnarani, Masura Parvin, Shopna Akter Jili, Lipi Akter, Nilufa Yesmin Nila, Marzia Akter and Matsushima Sumaya.
The Men’s team includes Kazi Ibrahim and Moeed Ahmed. Stars like Sanjida Akter, Faisal Hossain and Fayed Azim will be seen in other teams, but star booter Rahbar Khan will miss the league due to personal reasons.
The World Cup break has been included in this Futsal League schedule. Keeping in mind the spectators and excitement of the FIFA World Cup running from June 11 to July 19, the League will be suspended after completing the first phase on May 23. BFF Futsal Committee Chairman Imranur Rahman said, ‘It’s the FIFA Football World Cup, who will watch our game then? We need spectators. So the break will be given in that way. So that the second phase can be started after finishing the World Cup. Accordingly, the last phase will start from July 23.”
Futsal is a short and fast-paced version of regular football, played indoors with five players. The game, which began in 1930, gained popularity in Bangladesh, mainly due to the SAFF Women’s Futsal title win last January. Organisers believe that this domestic league will play a major role in elevating the country’s Futsal to international standards.
