Agrani Bank turns its back on football

State-run bank Agrani Bank Ltd decided to discard 50 years of its footballing heritage, saying in a letter that its club, Agrani Bank Ltd SC, would not be involved in any tournaments organised by the Bangladesh Football Federation due to cost-cutting measures.

The Bangladesh Championship League outfit, which made significant contributions to developing football in the nation, did not take part in the just-concluded transfer window, citing instructions to cut costs from the financial institutions division of the finance ministry.

Agrani Bank SC began its footballing journey in 1972, soon after the liberation war. Habib Bank and Commercial Bank merged and became Agrani Bank and the football team eventually climbed the ladder all the way to the top flight. During a memorable journey, they also stunned crowd favourites like Mohammedan, Abahani and Brothers Union and earned the tag of giant killers in the late 90s.

After the introduction of the second-tier BCL in 2012, the bankers played all 10 editions till last season, thereby providing jobs to 30-35 footballers each season.

Agrani Bank also produced many talented footballers on their journey, grooming the likes of Rajani Kanta Barman, Iqbal Hossain, Rokonuzzaman Kanchan, Matiur Munna, Alok, Zahid and others who represented the national team.

Agrani Bank's sports, culture and national days' celebration committee oversees the football, cricket, chess and taekwondo teams under the Agrani Bank Ltd SC banner.

Interestingly, they did not decide to pull out of any other sport and even approved an immense budget of approximately four crore taka for their cricket team for the upcoming season of the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League.

On the other hand, the concerned authorities spent only Tk 78 lakh on their football team last season and proposed a budget of one crore taka for 2022-23 season. That was turned down by the newly-appointed managing director.

"It was almost a single-handed decision from the former managing director and the current one stuck to it even though the Agrani Bank football team completed the club licensing, hoping to get approval from the board of directors," an Agrani Bank SC official said on condition of anonymity.

"We are about to waste one season due to this decision. None of the 35 players can find a club this season," Abu Tarek told The Daily Star. "We want the bank management to reverse their decision and form a squad."

Former national team captain and Agrani Bank player Iqbal Hossain, who is now the manager of the national team, was also hopeful that the decision would not stick. "One after the other, public institutions are turning away from football, which is really disappointing for football. The decision has closed a door for footballers even though Agrani Bank SC was once a place where footballers could truly be satisfied. I still get admiration from different corners as a former Bank player. I will request the concerned authorities to reverse the decision and keep that door open for footballers," he said.