Desk Report:
With the aim of encouraging university students to engage in sports and fostering a competitive atmosphere within the country’s sports landscape, Anvir Bashundhara Group (ABG) is organizing simultaneous cricket and football tournaments for the first time.
Dubbed the ‘ABG University Cup,’ this competition features international-standard sports infrastructure, corporate sponsorship, and plans for live television broadcasts. Stakeholders anticipate that this event, involving the country’s private universities, will open new horizons for university-level sports competitions.
The tournament matches will take place this October at two international-standard venues within Bashundhara Sports City: the Bashundhara Kings Arena and the Anvir Cricket Stadium.
The opening matches for the cricket and football competitions are scheduled to kick off on October 25 and October 26, respectively.
Ten teams from ten private universities across the country will participate in the event. The teams will compete in two separate groups. Following the group stage, the top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals, with the winners of those matches vying for the championship title.
The champion teams in both the cricket and football categories will receive a prize of Tk 10 lakh each, while the runners-up will be awarded Tk 5 lakh each. All matches will be played under floodlights.
The inaugural ABG University Cup will conclude with the football final on November 3 and the cricket final on November 13.
ABG Sports City has emerged as a comprehensive sports complex in Bangladesh, offering multi-faceted facilities.
It is equipped to host a wide range of sports, including football, cricket, basketball, boxing, squash, futsal, swimming, padel tennis, and badminton. A key feature of this sports hub is the development of infrastructure suitable for hosting international-level sporting events alongside domestic competitions.
One of the main attractions of ABG Sports City is the Bashundhara Kings Arena. Recognized by FIFA as a football venue, this stadium regularly hosts both international and domestic football matches. It serves as the dedicated home ground for the Bashundhara Kings football club. The Kings Arena stands as a significant example of developing stadium-centric infrastructure for club football—not only in Bangladesh but across the entire subcontinent.
Meanwhile, the Anvir Cricket Stadium, located right next to the Kings Arena, has also captured the attention of sports enthusiasts. A cricket series between Bangladesh and Malaysia was recently held there. By hosting international cricket matches, the stadium has demonstrated new potential within the country’s sports infrastructure.
Md. Imrul Hassan, Director of Bashundhara Sports City, is a well-known figure in the country’s sports arena. He serves as the President of Bashundhara Kings and as a Senior Vice-President of the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF).
Speaking on the objective of the ABG University Cup, Imrul Hassan stated that Bashundhara Group has consistently worked towards the development of sports in the country. He described ABG Sports City as a comprehensive sports complex, equipped with the necessary facilities to host domestic and international competitions across various sports disciplines.
He noted that the primary goal of the ABG University Cup is to foster greater interest in sports among the younger generation and to expand the scope of sporting activities at the university level.
Outlining future plans for the tournament, Imrul Hassan mentioned that the event is launching with cricket and football, featuring ten teams in the inaugural edition. However, there are plans to organize the ABG University Cup on a much larger scale this coming December, involving fifty universities. He expressed optimism that the competition’s reach and scope would expand significantly through this initiative.
The practice of organizing sports competitions at the school, college, and university levels has a long-standing tradition in Bangladesh. Inter-university tournaments have long been a regular feature at the university level. However, the ABG University Cup stands out by organizing large-scale, corporate-sponsored competitions centered on two popular sports—cricket and football—under a unified initiative.
Features such as international-standard venues, attractive prize money, matches played under floodlights, and plans for live television broadcasts are expected to elevate this event beyond the scope of conventional university sports competitions.
This initiative will foster talent development and a competitive spirit among university students while providing them with opportunities to engage in regular sports activities. Additionally, it promises to strengthen sports-based connections and a culture of healthy rivalry among educational institutions.
All in all, the ABG University Cup is not merely a cricket and football tournament; it is an initiative designed to make university-level sports more organized, engaging, and spectator-friendly. If the potentially larger-scale event planned for December is successfully executed by leveraging the experience gained from the inaugural edition, it could herald a new era in the country’s university sports landscape.
