Athletes upset as many sports at standstill

Frustration is building among top athletes from different disciplines who are having to either sit idle or engage in other activities while their respective federations remain at a standstill.

Last month, the ministry of youth and sports removed heads of 42 sports bodies, many of whom had close links with the ousted Awami League government and had gone into hiding after the fall of the previous regime.

The absence of decision makers at the top and a shortage of funds has caused many federations like athletics, shooting, hockey, kabaddi and volleyball to lay inactive and suspend training camps.

Swimming and archery federations are notable exceptions, with the former resuming its training camp with 24 swimmers on October 1, after it got halted for three weeks, to prepare the athletes for December's World Swimming Championship in Hungary while the latter is carrying on its national camp with only four archers.

"I have been in training and preparing to participate in the Youth Archery National Championships beginning tomorrow [Friday]," said national team's archer Diya Siddique, adding that the national training camp will go on a scheduled break for two-three weeks after October 22.

The suspension of training camps has upset the players as they fear it would have an adverse effect on their performance.

"Our camp got suspended on October 10. From what I know, it happened due to shortage of funds as there are no signatories to withdraw the fund from the bank," said shooter Robiul Islam, adding that the shooters may lose their consistency ahead of the upcoming Asian Shooting Championships in Thailand if the camp does not resume soon.

Four-time fastest man in the country sprinter Mohammad Ismail said, "We were in the national camp from June till August 20, preparing for two international meets, before it got suspended due to the unrest. Since then, we have returned to our service teams, doing our usual practice while some have joined duty.

"We don't know when the national camp or the national competitions will get underway and when we would return to the national camp."

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Athletics Federation (BAF) suspended their national training camp due to shortage of funds as there are no signatories following the removal of BAF president Tofazzal Hossain Miah and resignation of general secretary Abdur Rakib Montu.

Though the men's and women's Under-21 hockey teams have been preparing at BKSP for November's AHF Asian Youth Cup preparation, more than 20 national hockey players failed to get permission to play in different leagues in Europe.

"It is better to do something than doing nothing. We have been training with our respective service teams as we usually do round the year," said hockey player Nayeem Islam, who is a contractual player of Bangladesh Navy.

"Among those who are not part of service teams, some are helping their fathers in business, some are working as riders for ride sharing apps to earn their bread and butter. Some are under pressure from their families as all path of earning from tournaments is currently shut off," said the national midfielder Nayeem.

Kabaddi player Mizanur Rahman, a Bangladesh Police athlete, said he is preparing ahead of participating in the Indian Pro Kabaddi League while most players from service teams are on duty instead of being in training.

It has been learnt that the youth and sports ministry is likely to announce ad-hoc committees for nearly a dozen federations within a week as per the recommendations of the search committee, which was created to reform the existing sports bodies as well as provide recommendations for overhauls in the sports sector.