Nazmul Hassan Papon, the recently appointed Minister of Youth and Sports, feels that Bangladesh has the ability to perform well at the world level in a variety of disciplines and wants to address the challenges impeding that progress.
“There are many sports in which I believe we can do well internationally,” Papon said Wednesday, a day after taking the oath of office.
“We are doing well in sports such as archery and shooting.” I believe we should compete in the World Cup of Hockey. We can get hockey to the World Cup qualifying level if we pay attention.
“We’re also doing well in football at the moment.” The females, in particular, are excelling. So we have a lot of possibilities and possibility,” he says.
Papon, the head of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), also questioned the widespread impression of financial restrictions stifling sports in the nation, believing that there are other underlying concerns that must be addressed.
“We must now identify the issues.” According to the media coverage, the issue seems to be mostly financial. But I don’t think that’s the sole reason. Based on my experience in cricket, there is no scarcity of sponsors in Bangladesh.
“First and foremost, I need to sit down with them (other federations) and learn about their situation and resources.” We can’t cure everything all at once. We must prioritize five or so federations, and then demonstrate demonstrable progress within the next three years.”