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National Sports Award, the highest recognition for the field of Sports in Bangladesh, will be awarded today at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital, where Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will appear virtually to hand over the prizes to 85 recipients.
In 2012, the award handover was stopped due to unavoidable circumstances, but the State Minister for Youth and Sports, Zahid Ahsan Russel, told the reporters that he will try not to delay in the future.
“Hopefully we will not make any delay in the future. We will try to hand over the awards for 2021 and 2022 next year. The recipients of 2013 were very frustrated due to the long waiting. We could not organise the ceremony due to the pandemic situation,” he said in a press conference at the National Sports Council conference room on Tuesday.
As per the present rules and regulations, one must apply to receive the national sports award, which is not sober. Russel agreed and said he will raise the point in the national assembly.
“It is not sober to apply for any sort of prize, I agree. But the rules are like that, which are installed by the cabinet division, not us. For almost all the state awards, one has to apply, even for the Independence award. The final confirmation comes from the cabinet, we don’t have anything to do here,” said the state minister.
A total of 85 sports personnel, including players and organisers, will receive the National Award today. Each of them will receive an 18-caret gold medal weighing 25 grams, a cheque of Taka 1 lakhs, and a certificate.
Former national cricket team captain and present selector, Habibul Bashar, will receive the award in the cricket category for the year 2016.
“This is the state-level recognition. I feel very proud to receive such an honour. I have led my country to the highest level of cricket and won many awards at various levels as a player. But to me this is the highest form of recognition for all my hard work,” he told The Business Post.
Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, former cricket coach and current Cricket Advisor at the BKSP, feels that the award is a recognition of his sacrifices for the game.
“When I left a lucrative job at a tea garden and devoted my life to cricket coaching, the scenario was not like it is now. I think the national award is a recognition of my sacrifices. It gives me a purpose in life. It is a sense of accomplishment,” Fahid told TBP.
He is receiving the award in the organiser (cricket coach) category for the year 2020.
Bangladesh Cricket Board director and chairman of the cricket operations committee, Jalal Yunus, is receiving the award as cricket organiser for the year 2016.
“Recognition from the highest level is an honour. I feel very proud. As a player and then as an organiser, I have spent almost 40-45 years on cricket. Cricket as a sport back then was not very popular like now. The game progresses and now it has come to this stage where it is associated with our identity. The organisers also worked very hard to make this happen and such recognitions inspire us to work more,” he told TBP.
Ahmed Sazzadul Alam, a director at BCB and chairman of the tournament committee, is also receiving the award as cricket organiser for the year 2015.
“I took the role of a sports organiser in 1976, it was not easy back then. Since then, sports have become a part and parcel of my life. It took a lot of sacrifices, but in return what I got is also huge. The state-level recognition is a huge honour for us. Even though the category is for cricket, I worked for all sports whichever our club took part in,” he told TBP.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will appear at the program through video conference and give away the prizes for the year 2020. The rest of the prizes will be awarded by the state minister.
