Courtesy: The Daily Star

Futsal coming to town

The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) is going to introduce Futsal on its domestic calendar from next June.

Futsal, an indoor football competition involving five or six players a-side, is increasingly becoming popular all over the world since the FIFA, the game's world governing body, introduced it a few years ago.

The BFF has named its vice-president Golam Dastagir Chowdhury as chairman and Khairul Alam Masud as secretary to work out the details of the mini version of the sport.

"We will invite ten Dhaka Premier League and as many First Division clubs after the first round of the National Football Championship is over in the second week of May and hopefully start the competition from next June," said Masud to reporters at the BFF office yesterday.

The tournament committee secretary said that they had identified the National Sports Council (NSC) woodenfloor gymnasium and the Mirpur Indoor Stadium as two possible venues.

"Our first choice is the indoor stadium in Mirpur since it can accommodate about five thousand spectators. On the other hand, the disadvantage of the NSC gymnasium is that it has no stands," said Masud.

Masud said Futsal is a skill-based game since it is played in a small space.

"I think Futsal will be handy for our booters to sharpen their skills."

Although Futsal is yet to make its debut in the country, Bangladesh has already featured in an international competition in Qatar early this year.