The long-standing demand of footballers for a well-equipped gymnasium is likely to come true, but unfortunately at the expense of the green open lawn at the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) premises.

Since the establishment of the FIFA-funded four-storied building on a land leased by the government in 'Motijheel Club Para' in 2005, the BFF House created its own identity with different types of trees, a greenish lawn and an astro-turf marking its premises in the midst of high-rise buildings.

But that identity and natural beauty will disappear if the BFF executive committee approves of a gymnasium in the open lawn.

There is no denying the fact that modern gym facilities are of paramount importance in maintaining fitness for any professional team. Despite being one of the major points in election manifestos, the game's local governing body could not build a gym in the last 12 years,  and as a result the national teams – both men's and women's and age-level ones – have to maintain fitness in rented gyms during training camps.

Now that they are bent on building it, the move comes at the expense of something which is of equal importance to everyone involved, not just the players. The proposed gymnasium will erase a portion of the building from the sight of people and block the view of footballers' activities on the turf, a sight soothing to the eyes in the midst of all the doom and gloom in country's football.

Last week, BFF president Kazi Salahuddin and other officials twice inspected the proposed site, measuring the lawn.

"We want to set up a modern gymnasium here.  We have prepared five to seven architectural designs for the proposed gymnasium, which will cost Tk one crore. We are measuring how much space we need to set up the gymnasium so that we can keep the lawn in right shape," Salahuddin told reporters on Tuesday. "There will be sand running track in gymnasium. It is not a hotel gym, neither a hockey or cricket gym; it will be a football gym, like the one at English club Tottenham Hotspur."

Replying to a query, Salahuddin said, "There is not enough space inside the BFF building. The beauty of the BFF house won't be damaged; instead the beauty will increase." 

The first and second floors of the BFF building are used for administrative purposes while the third floor is used as a dormitory. The ground floor remains empty, the right side of which was supposed to be used as gymnasium as per the original design of the building.

Maintaining the beauty and identity of the BFF house, there is enough space on the ground floor to set up a modern and well-equipped gym as one-fourth of the floor has approximately 1500 square-feet space. Incorporation of one of the two parking areas may add an additional 900 square-feet space, making it a total space of approximately 2500 square-feet.

There is the other option of setting up the gym by constructing a fifth floor as the building has a five-story foundation. That, of course, will need inspection and examination by experts.