ABG Sports City eyes bigger tournaments, women's events - Imrul Hassan

ABG Sports City is planning to expand its sporting calendar with more competitions, including 50-over cricket and events for female students, following the successful conclusion of the inaugural ABG University Cup.

Imrul Hassan, director of ABG Sports City, president of Bashundhara Kings and vice-chairman of the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF), said the organisers were keen to build on the success of the football and cricket competitions by introducing more sporting events and creating a bigger platform for university athletes.

Speaking to Daily Sun after the conclusion of the two competitions, Imrul said the enthusiasm of university students had been the biggest reward for the organisers.

"What brought us the greatest joy was the enthusiasm and excitement among university students during the finals of these two events. We congratulate the champions and are grateful to all the participating universities for making the entire tournament a success. Their contribution was the greatest," he said.

Imrul also acknowledged that the inaugural edition had provided valuable lessons for the organisers, who now want to make the competition bigger and more inclusive.

"We have certainly learnt a few lessons from this year's arrangements. Taking those lessons into account, we will try to organise it on an even bigger scale in the future. Rather than limiting ourselves to football and cricket, we will look to include more events. We also plan to make arrangements for female students in the future," he added.

The prospect of a 50-over university cricket competition has also gained momentum after former Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar Sumon expressed his desire to see the tournament move beyond the T20 format.

Imrul welcomed the prospect, revealing that the development of additional infrastructure at ABG Sports City would create more opportunities to host longer-format matches as well as national and international competitions.

"Beyond this international cricket stadium, construction of another full-fledged stadium is also progressing. Once it is completed, or even at this ground, we will try to organise not only university-level matches but also national and international competitions," he said.

Initiated by Anvir Bashundhara Group (ABG) Chairman Sayem Sobhan Anvir, the inaugural ABG University Cup featured football and cricket competitions involving 10 universities.

With plans to introduce more disciplines, women's competitions and longer-format cricket, ABG Sports City now aims to extend its role beyond hosting university tournaments and become a wider platform for sporting development.