More athletes under scheme, boost for women’s hockey debutants

The landscape of Bangladeshi sports has entered a transformative era as the government initiates a high-value welfare scheme designed to transition athletics from a passionate pursuit into a viable professional career.

Under the direct patronage of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, the state has begun issuing dedicated sports cards and substantial monthly allowances to elite athletes, marking a historic shift in how the nation invests in its sporting talent.

Following an inaugural ceremony at the Prime Minister’s Office, the initiative is now scaling up to provide a robust financial safety net for the country's most promising competitors across all major disciplines.

During the initial phase, the Premier distributed sports cards and an allowance of Tk1 lakh each to 129 selected athletes.

Under the government's strategic roadmap, a total of 500 sportspeople across various disciplines will eventually be integrated into this scheme, incurring an annual state expenditure of Tk60 corers.

However, the State Minister for Youth and Sports, Aminul Haque, has clarified that these allowances are performance-contingent rather than permanent.

The ministry intends to conduct rigorous performance evaluations every four months to ensure the meritocratic nature of the disbursements.

For the current fiscal year, the government has capped the recipient list at 300 athletes.

Aminul Ehsan, Director (Sports) of the National Sports Council (NSC), confirmed on Saturday that following the 129 athletes honoured on day one, a further 171 will receive their benefits on Sunday.

"This Sunday represents the second phase of our rollout for this financial year, bringing our total to 300 recipients by June," Ehsan noted. "Those receiving cards now will draw a monthly allowance of Tk1 lakh through the end of the fiscal year. We anticipate a reshuffle based on performance in the upcoming cycle, where we hope to increase the total number of beneficiaries to 500."

The new list includes representatives from the national men’s and women’s football teams.

While the exact number of footballers included remains undisclosed by both the NSC and the Bangladesh Football Federation, the list will add from the men's side's recent AFC Asian Cup qualifiers against Singapore and the women’s team's campaign in Australia.

The ceremony, scheduled for 11am at the NSC Tower Auditorium, will also serve as a platform to recognise recent international success.

Two emerging badminton stars, Sifat Ullah and Nazmul Islam Joy - who secured gold in the boys' doubles at the South Asian Regional Junior Badminton Championship in Islamabad last month - will be formally honoured with cards and a Tk1 lakh cash prize.

In an unprecedented move to bolster women's sports, the newly formed national women’s hockey squad has also been fast-tracked into the programme.

To incentivise the team before they even make their competitive debut in national colours, all 18 members of the maiden squad will be brought under the sports card umbrella during Sunday’s proceedings.