Papon mulling to open BNS partially

Youth and Sports Minister Nazmul Hassan Papon is mulling to open the Bangabandhu National Stadium (BNS) in Dhaka partially before the expiration of its renovation works project comes to an end in December 2024. 

Papon also emphasised completing the renovation work within the deadline and said he would also form a monitoring committee to oversee the progress of the project of the country's leading venue after inspecting it for the first time since he took office.

The National Sports Council (NSC) started the renovation project of the BNS, worth Tk 98 crores, in September 2021 and was supposed to get the job done by December 2023 but the budget was revised later and saw an increase of Tk 60 crores.

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The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF), a major stakeholder of the venue, has repeatedly demanded the handover of the BNS to resume hosting international as well as domestic matches.

The surface inside the stadium is all but ready except for the installation of a modern pop-up sprinkler system.

Asked whether it was possible to open the BNS partially, Papon replied, "I've been thinking about this idea but I can't tell you about it without going through the documents (of the renovation works) and talking to the officials."

The football pitch at the BNS has been revamped with three layers of sand, brick and mud but the installation of the old-fashioned water gun around the pitch to dampen the ground instead of the pop-up sprinkler system saw the NSC come under immense scrutiny by the BFF, who claimed that FIFA would not approve that type of equipment which can put the players at risk. 

The press box at the stadium also had several limitations particularly the obstructed view from it while watching a game.  

"This is my first visit to the BNS. There are two major problems – the sprinklers in the ground and the press box - and I understood the problems. Now, I have to see whether it is possible to solve them. If it is possible, then we must do it," Papon said.

"I don't think it is too difficult to fix these problems. I think we can fix the majority of them. However, we want to stick to the deadline of the renovation works and don't want to extend it by taking any other steps," said Papon. "I've usually not seen such pillars in front of the press box. If it is possible to change it, it will be changed, if not, it will stay."