Youth and Sports Minister Nazmul Hassan Papon said he wanted more open playgrounds rather than restricted stadiums on the first day at office when he was asked whether he would give emphasis on skill training or infrastructure development.

"I am not in favour of (making) stadiums, rather I am in favour of sports. We don't need to have stadiums everywhere. We need to have open playgrounds with facilities like dressing rooms so that the people have access to enter the grounds and play there," Papon told the reporters at the National Sports Council on Sunday. 

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No bar for BCB boss Papon to resign

Papon, also incumbent president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, completed his first day at the NSC on Sunday after taking charge of the ministry. Officials of different national federations, associations and sports journalist organisations congratulated Papon by presenting flowers and cakes at the NSC Tower. 

Papon assured everyone that he would try to alleviate the problems that the federations have been facing. 

"I want to sit with each and every federation separately and try to know their problems because meeting with a few federations together will not work I believe," Papon said. "And, then I want to support them accordingly but I want to know from them where they want to reach in the next three years because it won't be possible to see the outcomes if they set a five or seven-year target."