The Bangladesh Athletics Federation (BAF) president Abdus Salam told reporters yesterday that the venue will be handed over to football and athletics as soon as the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur is converted to a complete cricket stadium.

"The resolution was adopted last year at a board meeting of the National Sports Council (NSC). And it was made clear that cricket will not come back here after they get full possession of the Mirpur Stadium," said Salam.

"The NSC will build an athletics track at the BNS. Other games will also be encouraged here in case of international events.

The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) president SA Sultan who was not as bold as Salam in his claim for the venue, however, said that the federation has decided to share the venue with cricket this year.

BFF general secretary Anwarul Haque Helal informed that the BFF will get the venue permanently from January next year but they have been assured by the Bangladesh Cricket Board to hold the final phase of the National Football League at the BNS.

"The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) was supposed to leave the ground after the end of the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup.

But they will not be able to complete the renovation of the Mirpur Stadium before December. So, we decided to make some sacrifices considering cricket's international calendar," Helal said.

"We have yet to confirm the schedule of the National League. As soon as we finalise the schedule, we will sit with our cricket board counterparts to settle the issue. They have assured us to use the ground this year provided our programmes do not collide with theirs."

"The National League is expected to begin in June and we will have no problem to use the BNS for it," the BFF secretary added.