2017 Roll Ball WC: Mismanagement in focus as Bangladesh begin with big win

Bangladesh's match was scheduled to start at 3pm at the newly-built Sheikh Russel Roller Skating Complex in Paltan Maidan but it began almost two hours later, that too at a different venue. The organisers in the official press conference of the tournament claimed that this is the very first time Bangladesh are hosting a sports world cup with the participation of such number of countries (39), at one single venue. The new stadium's construction work began less than three months ago, having acquired a portion of the historic Paltan Maidan. However, it failed to host the matches on the opening day as they had to shift to the nearest venue, M Mansur Ali National Handball Stadium, that was also once part of Paltan Maidan. The handball stadium didn't meet all the requirements to host roll ball games. According to “Official Roll Ball Book”, the matches should be played for 50 (25+25) minutes with a 10-minute break. But the games were held for 30 minutes (15+15) on the opening day, including the Bangladesh-Hong Kong game. The Book also says every team shall contain 12 players, including six substitute players, but at least 10 countries sent their sides with less then 10 players in the squad, including Hong Kong, who played against Bangladesh with no substitute player. The tournament began on Friday morning but no official and final fixtures were revealed till the match day. It was announced that 40 teams will visit but according to another list from the organiser, it contained the names of 39 countries. At least five of them however, were yet to arrive till Friday night. Despite all the mismanagements, there was a festive mood in the stadium area with the presence of hundreds of players from different ethnicities and countries around the world. Throughout the day, the gallery was filled mostly with the players from different participating countries. Bangladesh's Hasan Hridoy was the star of the day, scoring nine goals to give the home side a positive start. Bangladesh opened the scoring in just 14 seconds and led the first half 7-1. They will face Bhutan in their second game on Saturday.