Sports have come a long way in this age of globalisation. As soon as the stadiums were opened for spectators after the Covid pandemic, the overflowing crowd of sports fans and enthusiasts indicates people’s fascination and demand for sports to relieve the hassle of this conflict-ridden and war-torn world. In recent months, the FIFA World Cup 2022 witnessed the presence of neverseen-before audiences. In fact, the greatest show on the earth pointed out yet another thing, and that is the globalisation of football and sports at large.
It is no longer the case that only a few nations are monopolising various sports, while the remaining ones are merely participating. Those who follow various football tournaments will know that different countries are now challenging the dominant nations in the game. Likewise scenario can also be observed in cricket tournaments and other sports events. Many sports experts consider 2022 to be arguably the most productive year for the globalisation of sports. Now if the question comes, how these countries are achieving incredible success in sports and moving forward quickly in the sector? One of the major reason for this is the implementation, utilisation and maintenance of proper professional sport structures in their countries.
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Now if we look at Bangladesh, it will be seen that the professional sports in this country are unfortunately moving backwards. Sporadically Bangladesh has achieved success in sports thanks to the individual skills and talents. However, due to the lack of proper sports structure, these talents are not being developed, rather they are being wasted. For instance, Bangladesh in 2020 won the Under-19 World Cup, and again in 2022, Bangladeshi women lit up the country by winning the SAFF Championship. But, the stark reality is that the talents are being nipped in the bud due to the lack of professional sports structures comprising sufficient budget, training facilities, playground and medical facilities in the sports sector. As a result, the country is not getting the desired success in the sports sector and is falling behind. Because, other countries are not sitting idly, indeed, they are primarily focusing on developing their professional sports structure. They are even maintaining the structure and constantly modernising and upgrading it.
PROFESSIONAL SPORTS STRUCTURE AROUND THE WORLD
Various countries around the world have modern sports structures and they follow them properly. The United States has a proficient sports structure that is strictly followed. On the other hand, Europe has a significant structure that is pyramidically arranged in different categories. Our neighbouring country India, and other Asian countries like Saudi Arabia and Japan also created fresh professional sports structures and following them properly. As a result, their sports sector is moving forward at a breakneck speed.
Sports structures in all the aforementioned countries and regions are well-planned at different levels. And the committees of the various sports held there, including the national boards, the domestic sports leagues, the domestic clubs and their medical boards function independently. By working self-sufficiently they can sign sponsorships, build infrastructures as per their desired choice. Moreover, they can take any decision quickly and do not have to wait for any authority for approval. Also, any decision they make is specifically meant for the betterment of the sports they control, so the development in their respective sectors happens quite fast. However, there is collaboration between different organisations, whereby they can work with any organisation as per rules for their own development. As a result, the sports systems of these countries are governed by a clear and mutually exclusive system. Bangladesh can learn a lot from the professional sports structures of these countries; and accordingly forming their own sports structures is the need of the hour.
If we look at the professional sports structure of the United States, we can see that all their different sports have separate committees and the sports leagues work autonomously. Even the teams or clubs also act independently as well but following the rules and regulations of the respective leagues. They arrange their own funding, develop their infrastructure on their own, and also have their own medical board who provide all sorts of medical support to the players. Their tierone football league is known as the Major League Soccer that runs independently deprived of the national football board’s command. With Major League Soccer’s initiative they later collaborated with the Canadian Football League. Thus, there football picked a massive growth that was reflected in the last world cup tournament.
European countries too, have a much organised sports structure. The European sports works in a pyramid structure. In the first tier of the pyramid is the international sports, then comes the European sports federations, in the third tier is the national sports federations and regional, grassroots sports federations come consecutively. The federations in the first tier focus on international level sports, wherein the second tier organisations only work for the betterment of European football. Then, the national sports federations work for the betterment of national level sports of their respective countries. Likewise, federations in the other tiers only works for their dedicated sector and do not intervene in activities of other tiers’ federations. They have separate funding and all facilities confirmed by the respective tier’s authority. For example, the European football federation is Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and Spain’s major football league is La Liga, and in La Liga, famous clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona plays.
But all UEFA, La Liga and Real Madrid work separately and independently. In any European competition, the rules are set by the UEFA.
They pick top four teams from the league to play in the UEFA Champions League and Europa League. In this regard, UEFA collaborates with La Liga, where, the Spanish football federation has no authority.
Similarly, the football clubs in La Liga work independently, have their own medical board, training ground, stadium etc. Thus they work hard to be eligible to participate in Europe’s top tournament.
The region’s every sport is growing with a similar pace, thanks to the proper professional sports structure. Even our neighbouring country India follows a distinctive sports structure.
India’s world-class sport infrastructure for cricket has been in place for a long time, given the participation it has enjoyed. The franchise league of cricket there is the Indian Premier League (IPL).
IPL also works unconventionally and have a specific committee that runs it. Thus, the governing body of IPL have sufficient manpower, facilities and budget to organise the tournament.
Thus, the IPL authority only has to care about organising the event. They do not have to worry about paying the players as it lies with the franchise team owners in the league.
Thus, the national cricket board remains hassle free and the team selectors can fully focus on players’ performances rather than their due payments!
However, other sports were lagging behind but are gradually improving due to proper initiatives. With effective and well-maintained professional structures, they know specifically which organisations to delegate responsibility to and with whom to collaborate. As a result, they can implement initiatives quickly and effectively. Here goes an example, as the neighbouring country wanted to develop their motor sport sector. So, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the Formula One Group signed an agreement for India to host a Grand Prix event estimated to cost about $400 million to build.
The circuit was officially inaugurated in 2011, and the first Indian Grand Prix was held at the Buddh International Circuit in 2011. Many Formula One enthusiasts who would otherwise not have travelled to India attended this event. Due to the availability of such a facility, the motor sport industry has seen a considerable boost in the country over the last decade. The games paved the way for development of worldclass infrastructure in Delhi for various other sport disciplines apart from cricket. It was a major boost to sport development in India.
Furthermore, other Asian countries like Japan and Saudi Arabia acquired professional sports structure not long ago but already having benefits. Japan established professional sports structure to grow their sport sector in 1992, even after Bangladesh. But, with due maintenance they’re constantly playing well in international big events. They’ve established separate federations in different sport sectors, built a specific federation to monitor it, and created a vibrant network among them that is called the Japan sport network.
Despite the lack of a professional sports infrastructure, Bangladeshi talents are achieving success on the global stage:
INADEQUACY IN BANGLADESH
There is no effective structure in the sports system of Bangladesh. The structures that exist in the sports sector are inadequate, immature and immature. Cricket is currently the most popular sport in Bangladesh. Majority of the remarkable achievements of this country in sports have come from cricket. But due to lack of adequate sports management, it is not able to grow as expected. India mentioned above what benefits they are getting as a result of the sports structure. In contrast, the cricket leagues in Bangladesh, and even the franchise leagues of the T20 cricket era, are under the jurisdiction of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).
There is no independent committee of Bangladesh Premier League or BPL. Every year BCB forms the organizing committee in advance of this franchise league. Even after the league ended, it was found that in some cases the players did not receive their full payment. In that case BCB had to pay their dues. Although the League parties are privately owned, they do not enjoy complete independence. As a result, teams changed ownership and struggled with funding. There is no separate playing field for the teams. As a result, the development of cricket also stops. After all, the overall development of the country’s cricket is hindered due to which Bangladesh does not get the desired success in the international tournaments.
Unlike Europe and America, the football leagues in Bangladesh are under the Bangladesh Football Federation. And the country’s first tier league, the Bangladesh Football Premier League and its teams are also accountable to the BFF. As a result, they have to wait for the board to acquire any issues like funding, training facilities, playground availability and even medical facilities. Bashundhara Kings is an exception in this case. In 2015, they became a privately owned club on a conditional basis, starting their journey from then on. Since then, after being the runner-up in the first tournament, they continued to win the league consecutively. The club qualified for the 2018–19 Bangladesh Football Premier League as the 2017 Bangladesh Championship League champions. Since then they have maintained a streak of success in the league. In the final of the 2018–19 Independence Cup, they defeated Sheikh Russell Krira Chakra (2–1) to win their first cup title.
The Bashundhara Kings signed professional coach Oscar Bruzón and brought him home to coach them, while also regularly bringing in several talented players. They even built their own ground as the first football club in the country. Currently, there are also rumours that they are firmly trying to bring Neymar and Ronaldo to the country to play against Bashundhara Kings. Their streak of success proves that it is very important to put in place a professional structure for the growth of sports in the country. Through this, different sectors should have separate regulatory bodies and clubs should have adequate individuality. Not only cricket and football, but Bangladesh has talent in any sport but is unable to utilize it. Bangladesh has seen outstanding success in archery. At one time, the Bangladeshi youth became the champion after defeating India. But in the absence of talent management, those talents disappear.
On the other hand, India has gone far ahead of Bangladesh in archery. Another such unconventional but promising game is chess. When Niaz Morshed became the first grandmaster of the subcontinent in 1987, there were only a handful of grandmasters in Asia. India got its first Grandmaster after Bangladesh in 1988. China received in 1990. Ziaur Rahman in 2002, Rifat bin Sattar in 2007, Abdullah Al Rakib became Grandmasters along the path of Niaz’s success. Last in 2008 Enamul Hossain Rajeev. But after 14 years no grandmaster came in Bangladesh chess. While the number of grandmasters in India is now 78, 6 people have become grandmasters in the country in 2022. There are 1966 rated chess players in Bangladesh. On the other hand, the number in India is more than 30 thousand.
INADEQUATE TRAINING AND MEDICAL FACILITIES
The most important factor for the growth of sports is having proper training ground which is very fragile due to lack of proper structure in the country. Bangladesh athletics, once a powerhouse in the sub-continent, is observing a free-fall in the performance graph over the last few years. Once renowned athletic teams gradually becoming defunct, negligence shown towards the country’s prime synthetic turf year after year, scarce of modern equipment and a lack of events and trainers at grass-root level are among key reasons for this debacle. Both synthetic athletic tracks in the capital, one at Bangabandhu National Stadium in old Paltan and the other at Army Stadium in Banani, are out of date. Two new tracks were set up near the city in the last two years, one at Savar’s BKSP, the country’s sole sports institution, and the other at Ansar and VDP academy in Shafipur, Gazipur, but none of them are for public use.
Current BNS track was installed in late 2006 for a total expense of Tk9 crores and 96 lakhs, but it got expired in less than eight years due to overuse and holes being uncovered from time to time. Following 49-lakh taka renovation work in 2006, the situation hardly improved as the edges of patchworks were lifted up from surface soon after. The synthetic track at Army Stadium is also in unsuitable condition for athletes and as a consequence to avoid risks of injury, the athletics federation did not have much option but to hold the last national championship on grass in Chittagong after more than a decade. Even in football the teams do not have adequate training facilities. The national team has no set training ground. The national team had to practice at Bangabandhu Stadium earlier, but now the national team has to practice in another field due to the condition of the field. Last year, BFF approached Bashundhara Kings FC who have their own training ground. Most of the clubs playing in the famous football leagues of the world have their own venues.
Bangladesh Premier Football League (BPL) started in 2007 but the clubs did not have their own stadium. By ending this record, Bashundhara Kings’ own venue ‘Bashundhara Kings Arena’ started last. In order to organize an international tournament, the fields are renovated, but due to the lack of a designated committee, the infrastructure of the field becomes ineffective within a few years after the event ends. There are no modern facilities in the fields. Unfortunately, there is no proper gymnasium for the players all over the country. They have to go to modern private gyms to maintain their fitness. Although BCB has its own gym, the lack of modern machineries is noticeable. As in chess, there is no specific centre, players have no practice facilities. This year alone, the government has given the federation four additional rooms for the players to stay on the third floor of the chess federation’s office on the third floor of the National Sports Council. But in this age of technology, to thrive in any sport, having their own building is the most basic need.
Another harsh reality is that Bangladeshi players do not get adequate medical facilities. All sports in the country do not have their own medical board. BCB cricketers are given medical treatment in private hospitals when they get injured. This results in huge budget expenditure which could be reduced to a great extent by having its own medical team. And in the case of football, the situation is even worse. In cricket players have two or three physios but there is no such system for footballers. Also players across all sectors, without their own dedicated medical team, often face the dilemma of post-injury medical care. They have to run here and there with applications for financing their treatment. As a result, the injury period is prolonged and the sports of the country are deprived of the services of these players.
FINANCIAL BARRIERS
The ministry of youth and sports has got a proposed allocation of Tk 1,281 crore and 63 lakh for 2022-23 fiscal year. The proposed budget comprises an allocation of Tk 405 crore 69 lakh for the development while Tk 875 crore 94 lakh for the operation. Previously, in the FY 2021-22 revised budget, it was Tk 459 crore 17 lakh allotment for the development while Tk 804 crore 99 lakh 62 thousand for operation. In the revised budget for the financial year 2021-22, the amount of the development sector was 459 crore 17 lakh taka and that of the management sector was 804 crore 99 lakh 62 thousand taka. Expenditure in the development sector has been reduced by taka 54 crore in this year’s proposed budget.
But, in this costly era of modernization whether the budget is adequate, remains a concerning question. The money NSC receives from the ministry is distributed among 50 other federations outside of BCB. The Chess Federation receives Tk 12 lacs every year. The monthly salary of the federation staff is 1 lakh 20 thousand taka. The annual institutional expenditure of the federation, including all other expenses, is Tk 17-18 lakhs. It cost them more than crores of rupees to go to the last four Olympiads. At that time, the government once gave 5 lakh taka, of which 2 lakh taka was given by an official of the ministry who accompanied the Bangladesh team to the Olympics.
The Swimming Federation received Tk 15, 70,312 in the last fiscal year. They are supposed to receive Tk 21 lacs but they have not yet received it. The Handball Federation receives a fixed amount of around Tk 17 lacs every year and they have also started receiving a special Tk 36 lacs fund from the 2019-20 fiscal year for the development of local Handball. According to Handball Federation general secretary Asaduzzaman Kohinoor, the federation has received two instalments of that grant and are yet to receive more than ten lakh. The fixed allocation for the Basketball Federation is around Tk 11 lacs, but the amount is not at all enough to take the sports forward. Likewise, Intekhabul Hamid, general secretary of Bangladesh Shooting Federation informed that the annual grant they received previous fiscal was Tk 16 lacs and also some other funds when required. But he also added that it was not enough for their federation.
To conclude, if sport is considered a precondition of building up a healthy and productive nation, there is no alternative to creating sport facilities for the citizens by the government, which could really be a notable, long-term employment sector for jobless youth. It is also evident that the involvement in structured sporting groups also contributes to reducing gang related activity and crime committed by youth if sport programmes are properly structured and administered. To drive the youth in the right direction as well as achieve international success from sports, Bangladesh badly need a national sports policy and strategic plan which will provide an overarching guiding policy that will define the vision, values, strategic directions and objectives for the development of sport in Bangladesh. A sport study, conducted in Northern Ireland in 2010, showed that sport policy factors lead to international sporting success.
They identified nine pillars — financial support for sports and development, an integrated approach to policy development, participation in sports, talent identification and development, athletic career and post-career support, training facilities, coach provision and development, national competition and scientific research and innovation — for international success. The 1998 sports policy has almost covered everything such as establishment of the playground at each union to district level, turning all schools into breeding grounds for sports, inclusion of sport as a mandatory subject in the national curriculum, making BKSP the nucleus of all sports, priority of those disciplines which have good possibilities at international level, participation in international and regional competitions, inspiring privates companies, involvement of city corporation in sports, formation of mid and longterm planning, incorporation of National Sports Council, Sports Directorate and BKSP under the sports ministry, etc. but it has lacked involvement of all stakeholders of the country’s sports.
Apart from youth and sports ministry, sport is also related to some ministries such as finance, education, health, environment, local government, tourism, those sectors of government that employ athletes and in addition to that the National Olympic Committee, national federations and the clubs, who have mainly kept the country’s sports alive. It needs to bring all those stakeholders under an umbrella before adopting a new sport policy and a fresh professional sports structure with a view to improving the lives of all through sport.
