A football stadium in Kamalapur, Dhaka, recently hosted several matches of the Saff Under-17 Women's Championship in dreadful conditions.
Because of the international tournament, the stadium was supposed to be neat and orderly – or even picturesque – but almost the entire area, from the entrance to the gallery, was littered with garbage.
There was garbage at the main gate and a rickshaw garage at the gallery entrance. The stadium was covered in filth in several locations. There was also a remarkable presence of floating people.
This was the situation on March 28 at the Bir Shrestha Shaheed Sipahi Mostafa Kamal Stadium, also known as Kamalapur Stadium, on the final day of the Saff U-17 Championship.
India, Nepal, and Bhutan participated in the tournament along with hosts Bangladesh. Russia also played in this championship as a Uefa-nominated team.
Yet, during the event, which kicked off on March 20, there were no obvious efforts made to clean up the stadium and the area around it.
The stadium's being in a shambles has tarnished the reputation of the authorities concerned as well as the country, when a little bit of tidying up was not a titanic task.
Only two of the eight entrances to the gallery were open, but access to them was almost blocked by autorickshaws. At the same time, tickets were sold for less than the stated price throughout the entire tournament.
Some black marketeers sold tickets for the match by hawking at gates No 4 and 8 because the ticket counter remained closed.
This reporter also bought a Tk50 ticket for Tk40, and two security guards at a gallery entrance kept it. When asked about it, one of them said with a smile: “You can enter and exit whenever you want. No problem.”
They would sell the same ticket to someone else, as insinuated by the smile.
In the afternoon, various kinds of mismanagement on the ground were noticeable. Three of the four entrances to the stadium area have a tea shop, a rickshaw garage and a cigarette shop. There is also a bustling tea shop at the entrance to the main parking space of the stadium.
Several guards on duty said four of the eight gates had been opened for the Saff-Uefa Under-17 Championship, while the rest remained closed.
According to National Sports Council (NSC) sources, Kamalapur Stadium has a dual-management arrangement in place – the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) organizes the matches, while the NSC takes care of stadium management, security and infrastructure.
Council officials claim that there are rules to keep shops closed during international matches at the stadium.
NSC Director (Administration) Sheikh Hamim Hasan said: “We have instructions from the BFF to maintain security and keep the infrastructure in order. Those are always followed. We also keep the shops closed. The rule was followed this time too; we informed the shop owners association about it.”
Claims vs reality
Regardless of what the authorities say, in reality there was a workshop assembling battery-powered autorickshaws at gate No 4, while some autorickshaws were kept for exhibition. They also rent out autorickshaws. The staircase leading up to the entrance to the gallery is unusable since various abandoned items are dumped there.
Traders said there were at least 450 shops throughout the whole stadium: outside, inside and on the second floor of the southern part, stretching from gate No 5 to 8.
The situation was similar at gate No 8. In fact, the whole stadium area, except for the field, is packed with battery-run autorickshaws.
The owner of a battery shop at the gate, who was reluctant to give his name, said: “There are about 450 shops in the whole stadium. The rent ranges between Tk12,000-30,000. However, those who keep battery-powered rickshaws on the corridor have to pay extra and they do not get a receipt for this favour.”
Commenting on the issue, the administrator of the stadium, Jahangir Alam, said: “The shops were rented from our office, [but] now they are displaying the vehicles this way.”
He, however, claimed that although there were autorickshaw shops, there was no garage. “They just sell those vehicles,” he added.
In the eastern part of the stadium, there are welding workshops, where people make doors, windows, railings and beds with rods and steel.
Lax security
This reporter spotted a small pocket gate that is frequently used by the residents of the nearby Khalpar area. People were seen urinating beside the boundary walls.
The stadium authorities did not take minimum security arrangements ahead of the international tournament. There was no security check at the entrance to the stadium area. Around 50 Russians were seen at the stadium during the match between Russia and India in the evening.
Mizanur Rahman, a trader who came to the stadium to watch the match, expressed his love of football, saying he had watched two matches.
“Though there is an international match taking place on the ground, there is not enough security. I had to buy the ticket for today's match in black since the counters are closed,” he said.
Rakib Ahsan, a student, was in the gallery to watch the match. He had also bought his ticket from a middleman.
“There was no checking. I see there are foreigners in the gallery too. It is apparent how bad the security at this place is.”
As soon as one enters the stadium through the main arcade, one can see various types of vehicles, including buses, CNG-run autorickshaws, cars and police vehicles, parked there.
When asked about the autorickshaw shops, garage and security inside the stadium, NSC Additional Secretary Parimal Singh maintained that those were closed down during any international match and movement inside and outside the stadium was controlled.
“But after hearing what you are asking me, I do not quite understand what is going on. I will ask the administrator how these things are happening.”
On another note, Russia beat India 2-0 on the night of March 28 to emerge victorious in the Saff Under-17 Women's Championship, participating in the tournament at the request of Uefa.