BFF expects FIFA go-ahead on Centre of Excellence

The Bangladesh Football Federation has said it expects a positive response from football's world governing body, FIFA, over its proposed Centre of Excellence in Cox's Bazar following completion of assessment over the project's environmental impact.

According to the federation's general secretary, Emran Hossain Tushar, the BFF received positive recommendations on the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) from the Department of Disaster Science and Climate Resilience of Dhaka University and send the same to FIFA earlier this month.

The BFF spokesperson said they would start construction work on the 20-acre land project in Ramu upazila of the coastal district once given the go-ahead by FIFA, expected by the end of next month.

The government had allocated the land in Khuniya Palong reserved forest to BFF in July 2022, much to the frustration and anger for environmentalists and wild life enthusiasts.

FIFA, after scrutinising media reports and through own assessment, asked the BFF to conduct an independent environmental assessment in February this year.

"We have received a positive assessment report," Tushar told reporters on Monday.

"The salient recommendations of the report are: We cannot build any infrastructure outside the designated 20-acre land; we will have to plant more trees than those that will be cut; we will have to create some vegetation for the elephants and create a water body for reptiles. We will also have to integrate the local populace with the project, either through creating employment opportunities for the adults or through giving sporting opportunities for their children.

"We have already sent the recommendations to FIFA in the beginning of the month and we expect an instruction from FIFA by the end of August," Tushar added.

The Centre of Excellence is supposed to be a residential training facility, under a FIFA project worth 3.6 million dollars, featuring two standard-sized football pitches apart from a four-storey dormitory and medical facilities, among other things.