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The Finance Division has approved the creation of posts for upazila sports officers in all 495 upazilas across Bangladesh, State Minister for Youth and Sports Aminul Haque said on Thursday.
He made the remarks while speaking to journalists after the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Housing and Public Works and the Ministry of Youth and Sports at the Secretariat.
The MoU aims to ensure the preservation, maintenance and proper management of Dhanmondi Cricket Ground and Dhanmondi Field. Housing and Public Works Minister Zakaria Taher was present at the signing ceremony.
Aminul said sports officers currently work at the district level, but there are no such officers or dedicated infrastructure at the upazila level.
He said creating upazila-level sports officer posts was part of the government’s election pledge and that the Finance Division approved the proposal for all 495 upazilas on Wednesday.
The state minister said the impact of the initiative would take time to become visible and urged people to give the government two to five years to assess the results.
He also outlined government initiatives to expand sports at the grassroots level, saying teams are being formed in 10 sporting events across 4,599 unions. Nearly 1.5 million people have already registered online.
For the second phase, around 1.4 million players were initially required, while registrations have already exceeded 1 million and could reach nearly 2 million in the coming days. Following screening, teams will be formed in football, cricket and eight other events across the unions.
No compromise on playgrounds
Aminul said the government had taken immediate action after learning of an attempt to occupy a playground in Rampura.
“There will be no compromise when it comes to playgrounds,” he said, urging people to inform the authorities if they notice any attempt to occupy or misuse sports grounds.
He said the government wanted to ensure that playgrounds remain available for children to play.
