By Samsul Arefin Khan
Over the last few years, street football has gained utmost popularity in the big cities of Bangladesh, although the form of the game is yet to be spread throughout the country. It’s a kind of platform for amateur booters who can display their skills in order to retain their competitive spirit and maintain their fitness.
The journey of street football in the country started around early 2000 when a number of enthusiastic schools and university-going students introduced the form of the game and initially played with each other just as a form of entertainment. It found its pace in 2006-2007 and reached its peak in 2011-2016 until the Novo theatre field was open for all.
Street football has evolved greatly over the last few years with tournaments currently being held in different forms and with different sets of rules. There’s the usual outdoor football with standard rules, then there are street football tournaments, held in places like outdoor basketball and tennis courts, which are usually played five-a-side. There’s indoor football which is also played with a small number of players on each side, usually with small posts and no goalkeepers. And another popular form and variant of association football are called Futsal, popularized by South Americans. These improvised rules make the game harder and more interesting.
Nowadays, many tournaments are being held by different organizations. Many reputed schools, colleges or universities, and their alumni organizations are arranging annual tournaments like XPL [Ex Cadet Premier League], ORWA five-a-side tournament and a many more, which is giving non-professional players the opportunity to fulfill their passion and to be in touch with their nearest circles.
THE VIEW FROM THE AVENUE: One Man’s Perspective
Mesbaur Rahman, the consultant of Excalibur Entertainment, has been organizing Ascent Corporate Football since 2006 and has informed that the corporate tournaments are gaining popularity day by day, and are playing a vital role in making public relationships between the higher authorities of corporate companies.
“We are arranging the tournament since 2006. This year, we arranged the 12th edition of the tournament. In the first year there were only 16 teams, but last year, 44 teams participated in the tournament. We have received so many requests from various corporate houses who want to participate in the tournament. So I think that the popularity of these tournaments is increasing day by day.”
“There is a similar kind of tournament held in India so the concept of arranging such a tournament came from there. The game is better managed than other sports. Only five to seven players played for each team in these tournaments and the duration of a match is even shorter. It also takes less time and the whole tournament can be organized within a very short time.
“The tournament plays a very vital role in public relations. It is really difficult to make corporate relationships in other places. None of the players played professional football but some of them play really well,” postulates Mesbaur.
Unlike the corporate tournaments, in the last few years, the number of street tournaments decreased significantly due to insufficient fields. The tournaments were usually arranged at Uttara Sector 4 field, RAB 1 field, Outer of Army Stadium, the Novo-theatre field of Bijoy Sarani, DMC Fazle Rabbi Hall field, Dhanmondi 8 field and Abahani field. Dhanmondi Road 8 field, a regular venue for tournaments, was renovated recently and then closed off to the public, while the Abahani indoor court prohibited indoor football. Many fields are in terrible condition due to insufficient care.
INVADING THE PITCH
Nowadays, the most common venues for street tournaments are Mirpur Indoor Stadium, Shaheed Captain M Mansur Ali National Handball Stadium, and Fortis Sports Ground.
Most tournaments now are arranged for business purposes, which leaves the amateur booters in a great trouble. However, there are a few people who continue to play simply because of their love for the game.
At times, there were almost 25-30 teams that used to play. There were 10-15 sides that had a lot of potentials, like DOHS United, 7 Nations Army, FC Lycans, Club 11, Amigos, Josephite Soccer Knights, Lab Galacticos, Remain Raiders, and Rapid FC. However, due to the lack of opportunities to play, the number of good teams have been substantially decreasing day by day.
Jainus Saleheen Shawgat, one of the top street footballers who played for Lab Galacticos and FC Lycans, was very concerned about the current condition of the street football scene in Dhaka and said the numbers of the tournaments should be increased, while the organizers should care more about the tournaments than the profit.
“I started my football at the Dhanmondi 8 field as a forward when I was in class eight during 2005. The condition of the field wasn’t that good. Soccer Knight was the best side back then. I used to play with my friends in small teams. I started playing regularly when I got admitted to North South University. Mainly, I started playing a long time ago but didn’t join a good side until I got admitted to the university.”
“The number of tournaments has decreased, while the running tournaments are mainly concerned on their business. They used to take Tk. 4,000 – 5,000 as an entry fee for the one-day-long tournament, which is really absurd,” he added.
IT TAKES TEAMWORK
Some of the key achievements of the street football platform include allowing young and talented players to stay in practice and assess their skills with their competitors.
Though most players play street football as a hobby and don’t expect career prospects out of it, a few players have been approached by professional clubs like Abahani Limited.
“There was a player named Shihoron, who went to the USA and played in their professional league. Birol Bhai (Mustafa Walid Sarwar), who is the son of former Bangladesh footballer and Abahani coach Golam Sarwar Tipu, got the call from Abahani but he gave up his passion and concentrated on studying. There are various players like them, who played really good football but due to lack of opportunity, their potentiality was nipped in the bud. And due to this, now many youths have failed to find their right way as well,” concludes Shawgat.
