BFF plans grassroots events every month

The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) on Sunday decided to organise grassroots football events every month this year to inspire young players across the country, alongside staging an expanded BFF Academy Cup involving around 300 football academies.

The decisions were taken at the sixth meeting of the BFF Development Committee, with BFF vice-president and committee chairman Nasser Shahrear Zahedee presiding.

“We have decided to organise an event every month in 2026 for budding footballers,” Zahedee said after the meeting. “These programmes may include football clinics, football festivals and other initiatives aimed at motivating young players at the grassroots.”

Zahedee added that the federation also intends to place greater emphasis on school football this year in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

“As part of strengthening the national team, we want to build a strong pipeline for age-group teams such as the U-15, U-17 and U-20 sides,” he said. “Our aim is to provide these players with regular and structured training so that we can build a competitive national team within the next three to four years. We are also preparing a roadmap to achieve these goals.”

Last year, the BFF organised the Academy Cup with the participation of 168 academies, supported financially by FIFA’s Technical Development Scheme. This year, the federation plans to expand the tournament significantly, with around 300 academies set to take part in the BFF Academy Cup for U-14 players.

Zahedee also revealed plans to organise age-group women’s tournaments, which will be overseen by the BFF Women’s Wing with support from the Development Committee.