Disjointed, disorganised, but ‘nothing irregular’

Although the Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) was hopeful of organising the Sheikh Kamal 2nd Bangladesh Youth Games in a more cohesive way than the inaugural edition, age-old problems bubbled to the fore as the first phase, featuring 495 upazillas, began.

Of the 60,000 athletes, officials, technical staff and organisers that had geared up for the event across the upazilas, at least those who turned up to the Tangail Stadium were frustrated by the poor arrangements from negligent authorities.

There was a low turnout in terms participants during the meet, which ran from January 7 to yesterday, and virtually no audience, both attributed to the district sports association's failure to promote the event.

But concerning on-field matters, things became even more disjointed.

Several athletes complained that the tracks they were asked to run on were not even. Elsewhere, karatekas complained about the bitter cold that they felt during their events as they were asked to compete on cement floors, sans the mats that are customary.

Meanwhile, teams from six upazilas participated in football and volleyball matches but allegations about the inclusion of over-aged players and players from unconnected districts were rife.

"We have complained to the authorities over irregularities but turned a blind eye to the issue," said Jahirul Islam Milon, coach of the Dhanbar upazila girls' football team.

When queried about the issue, Golam Raihan Bapon, general secretary of the Gopalpur upazila sports association, admitted that some players were from outside the district and said they were included due to a shortage of players. He added: "However, they practice football with our girls in our upazila."

In another curious case, several football players alleged that they did not get the Tk 700 each player was due to receive for transport, food and pocket money.

Shafiqul Islam Ratan, general secretary of the Bhuanpur upazila sports association, explained that most the budget had already been spent on transport and food and that only the remaining amount was disbursed.

Regardless, authorities maintained that they had done their utmost. They claimed there had been no 'irregularities' and attributed the low turnout to the weather.

Mirza Moinul Hossain Lintu, general secretary of Tangail district sports association, said the event was held properly and that there was no negligence nor irregularities.

Al Amin, district sports officer in Tangail, said that audiences were low due to the chilling cold. "However, there were no irregularities," he added.