Papon sees huge potential in overlooked sports

The newly appointed minister of Youth and Sports Nazmul Hassan Papon believes that Bangladesh has the potential of doing well at the international level in multiple disciplines and wants to identify the issues that are hindering the growth of those disciplines.

"There are many sports in which I believe we can do well internationally," Papon told the media today, a day after taking the oath as the minister.

"We are doing well in disciplines like archery and shooting. I feel that we should be competing at the hockey World Cup. If we pay proper attention, we can elevate hockey to the World Cup qualifying level.

"We are also doing well in football now. Especially the girls are playing really well. So, we have a lot of options, a lot of potential," he added.

Papon, who is also the president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), also questioned the general perception of financial constraints holding back sports in the country and feels there are other underlying issues that need to be addressed.

"Now, we need to identify the problems. From the media coverage it seems that the problem is basically financial. But I feel that can't be the only reason. From my experience in cricket, I can say that there is no shortage of sponsors in Bangladesh.

"Firstly, I have to sit with them (other federations), I have to find out what's their situation's like, what resources they have. We can't fix everything at one go. We have to prioritise five or so federations and then within the next three years we will have to show some visible improvement."