Bangabandhu, Bangamata Football finals Thursday

Dhaka – The final matches of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup and Bangamata Begum Fazilatunnesa Mujib Gold Cup Primary School Football tournaments will be held at the Bangabandhu National Stadium here on Thursday.

Kanial Khata Govt Primary School will lock horns with Haripur Primary School in the Bangabandhu Gold Cup final at 1:15pm while Tipurgani Primary School will play Panchrukhi Govt Primary School in the Bangamata Gold Cup final at 3:15pm.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to be the chief guest in the finals.
In 2010, the Primary and Mass Education Ministry introduced the Bangabandhu Gold Cup across the country named after Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with a slogan “Let’s all go to school”.

Later, it introduced the Bangamata Gold Cup for the primary girls in 2011.

This year, at least 1,118,500 students from 65,795 primary schools participated in the tournaments.

State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Md Zakir Hossain at a pre-match press conference at the BFF House on Wednesday said though the tournaments were introduced as a tribute to Bangabandhu and Bangamata, these are now playing a role in developing school football. “These boys and girls are our future. We’re trying to preserve them. They should not be lost. We’ve already discussed it with the football federation.”

Primary and Mass Education Secretary Md Akram Al Hossain, BFF Vice-president Mohiuddin Ahmed Mohi and tournament committee members were also present there.

Chattogram Division emerged champions for highest three times while Rangpur, Sylhet and Barishal won the title twice each.UNB