The Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) has modified one of its double-decker buses removing its top for the reception parade of the Bangladesh women's national team that emerged as the winner of the SAFF Women's Championship 2022.
After 10 long years of hopeless drought, the Bangladesh team clinched their first title beating hosts Nepal 3-1 at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu on Monday.
The team is scheduled to return home Wednesday afternoon.
The road transport corporation started working from Tuesday morning on removing the top to prepare it for the team’s homecoming reception after the Ministry of Youth and Sports contacted them on Monday night.
“The bus will be ready by today [Tuesday]. We will hand it over to the ministry. They will decorate it,” BRTC Chairman Md Tazul Islam told The Business Post.
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He said the BRTC will not re-install the roof after the reception. “We will try to engage this to tourist purpose in the future. This double-decker will be the first open-deck bus in the fleet.”
Tazul said the BRTC is proud to become a part of the reception. They hope that the effort will add some joy to the football team.
The whole idea of a championship parade on an open-deck bus sparked from the Bangladesh winger Sanjida Akhter’s Facebook post, where she wrote that she wanted to win the title for the people who supported her and the team unconditionally.
“We want to win it for those who are eagerly waiting to embrace our dream. We want to win it for the people who have supported us unconditionally. It’s okay if we don’t get to stand on an open-deck bus to celebrate in a championship parade. We want to win it for the people who have shielded us from the society’s taunts and social stereotypes. We want to win it for those who have allowed us to embrace the green grass,” she posted on Sunday.
Meanwhile, State Minister for Youth and Sports Md Zahid Ahsan Russel told the media that the women’s team will be accorded a reception by an open-top bus from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to the Bangladesh Football Federation building.
“The success achieved by the women booters is unforgettable. It is a very proud day for Bangladesh,” he added.
