Bangladesh soccer - An open letter to Kazi Salahuddin

Sir,

Cricket might be the premium sports at the moment in Bangladesh, but we are well aware of the fact that once upon a time, in our country, soccer used to rule the rooster. Various soccer tournaments used to trigger immense amount of excitement among the Bangladeshis and the jam-packed stadium was a symbol of Bangladesh’s interest about soccer.

Sadly, those days are nothing but a sweet memory now. In course of time, the sky high popularity of Bangladesh soccer has faded away and at present, cricket is the darling of the people of Bangladesh. Lack of proper management capabilities, inappropriate branding of our soccer and time and again pathetic results have led to the downfall of our soccer.

Even our cricket team’s results are not something praiseworthy but cricket has served as a fantastic medium to advertise Bangladesh in abroad – many people in abroad know Bangladesh because of our cricket team and because of gaining the coveted Test status our cricket have been able to attract the sponsors whereas, so far, the story of our soccer has been pathetic.

But I can’t say that the passion for soccer has ebbed away from Bangladesh yet. Young generation is extremely interested about soccer and they keep themselves updated about international soccer. Moreover, through Facebook, we come to know that our young generation is very much updated about our local soccer as well. But they are unable to quench their thirst as because our Soccer Leagues are very much irregular and gets a poor media coverage.       

But sir, after you took over as the role of Bangladesh Football Federation President, the football followers of Bangladesh have started to dream big. They believe that you will rekindle Bangladesh soccer’s glorious past.

Inviting Argentina and Nigeria to play in Bangladesh has been a very encouraging move by you and we people salute you for this. Such a move will give Bangladesh soccer a big boost.

Your move has made the soccer followers of Bangladesh very happy, especially the Argentine followers. But sir, what about the Brazilian supporters of Bangladesh?

You know very well that in Bangladesh, majority of the soccer followers are either Brazil or Argentina supporters. Being a die hard follower of the Selecao, I wholeheartedly welcome the Argentina soccer team, but in the deepest corners of my heart there is a wish – the wish to see the Samba Boys in action at Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka.

Sir, if Messi and his men can be invited here then why not Neymar and co? There are plenty of Brazilain supporters in Bangladesh who are very much eager to see their favourite Brazilian players in Dhaka.

I hope sir, one day; you will invite the Selecao in Dhaka as well. It’s a request from the Selecao fans.

Yours truly,

Faisal Caesar

A Bangladeshi and die hard fan of Selecao