The organisers of the proposed Dhaka Hockey League (DHL) moved towards actualising their project by submitting an application for the allocation of the national hockey stadium to the National Sports Council (NSC) yesterday.
Shib Nath Roy, the new secretary of NSC, received the application at his office. The application said the DHL will feature the leading hockey players of the country as well as renowned foreign players. The teams will also have foreign coaches and the league would contribute toward the development of the game in the country.
Hence, and for the greater good of hockey in the country, the organisers appealed to have access to the national hockey stadium from November 1 to November 20 “through adjustment with the Bangladesh Hockey Federation”. The application was signed by Shafiullah Al Munir, the initiator secretary.
The organisers, who have taken a staunch stance against the existing hockey federation executive committee, said all of the country’s leading players would be playing under their banner. Ariful Haque Prince, one of the key figures of the rebel group said that if the league would change Bangladeshi hockey.
“There will be six franchises with sponsors. The franchises will be coached by foreign coaches and all of them will be coming from Europe. The physios will be there too and we are planning to insert a good number of sponsors to make the event a gala one,” he said.
Prince, a former national player, was nonetheless aware of the obstacles to the league’s success, with six clubs - Mohammedan, Mariners, Ajax, Bangladesh Sporting, Wari and Wanderers – being at odds with the federation after having boycotted all officially sanctioned events.
“The first thing is to get the allotment of the stadium. Then we may talk with the federation. We are here for the hockey of the country,” said Prince. Shib Nath Roy was practical in his thinking. “We will talk with the sports ministry, the federation before taking a decision. We have just received an application for the stadium and we have to go through all the concerned sectors before reaching a decision,” said the secretary.
The organisers have planned for contingencies and one said that they would look to hold the event on grass if they were did not receive the go-ahead from the federation for use of the national stadium.