It was fourth – not third – time lucky for Fazle Rabbi. Since January 3, Fantasy Premier League (FPL) officials have been trying to reach this young Bangladeshi to give the news that is too good to be true, both for Rabbi and other FPL players in Bangladesh.
The second-year RUET student has outclassed 3,176,644 players from all over the globe to win the second quarterly prize of Fantasy Premier League this season and after four consecutive e-mails and failing to receive several phonecalls from the UK, Rabbi finally came to know his dream has been knocking on his door for more than one month on February 6.
“I was literally shocked for 4-5 minutes when I opened the e-mail. It was something I can’t explain using any phrase. I have achieved some prizes in Bangladesh this season but the thought that I would be one of the title contenders in the global league was out of my imagination. It was more than just a dream.”
Along with a VIP trip for two to a Barclays Premier League match, the prize also includes travel, two nights’ accommodation including breakfast and two match tickets to a match featuring a team of his choice. The 22-year-old is a die-hard Arsenal fan and is expected to tour London to fulfill his dream and watch the English Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester City on March 29.
His fantasy team Da_Dreamers came out first with a massive 802 points in the second quarter, beating second-placed Australian opponent Adam Andrijic, Scottish Ryan Kershaw and English Steve Faulkner on the way. He has now a total of 1,647 points (after gameweek 25) and is ranked 161 in the global league and 1st among the Bangladeshi managers.
Rabbi also clinched the half-yearly title in Fantasy Football Players of Bangladesh (FFPB) league along with two monthly victories in November and December.
He explained how he got into the game. “It was back in 2011 during the winter transfer window. I was bit curious when I found the fantasy premier league in their official site and signed up there but didn’t understand much as there was no one to help.
“I started to take this seriously when I joined FFPB as the prizes really caught my attention. Then I was really determined to win something for myself, for my country. It was not a good start and after three months of frustration, I, finally, won the monthly prize in November from where I started to be convinced that I could make my dream a reality,” he said.
The fairy tale of the future mechanical engineer just geared up. He leapfrogged Shadman Haque at the very end of gameweek 18 to move to the top of the FFPB points table and clinch the half-yearly prize. Rabbi started the New Year as the top Bangladeshi manager.
“I want to express my heartiest gratitude to FFPB admins and members for guiding this long way without whom it would never be possible. I hope more Bangladeshis will participate in such competition and bring more prizes and glory for the country in future,” he added.
When Jahid Hassan and Quamrul Hassan, two of the first names to shoot Bangladesh to international fame in fantasy football, created the Facebook group Fantasy Football Players of Bangladesh with fellow experts Ehsan Haque and Arifin Satej, they had a dream that Bangladeshis will make winning such contests a habit. After Ishtiaque Amin won the inaugural Premier League Exchange Game last year, Rabbi's achievement this time around gives us every reason to live that dream as well, no?
