AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, a day after his teammate Leo Duarte, a defender from Brazil, was diagnosed with coronavirus.

The latest development means that AC Milan will have to play without two of their highest-paid players as they team seek to improve upon its sixth-place finish in a 2019-20 Serie A season.

In a social media post, Ibrahimovic said he showed no symptoms of COVID-19 and vowed to recover quickly. The 38-year-old scored twice in AC Milan's 2-0 win over Bologna in its opening game of the new season.

Duarte tested positive after a round of testing on Tuesday. According to Serie A rules, a positive test in any team automatically triggers a second round of testing, after which Ibrahimovic tested positive, reports Xinhua.

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In a statement, AC Milan said Italian health authorities had been informed and that both Ibrahimovic and Duarte had been placed under home quarantine. All other players and officials with the team tested negative.

Ibrahimovic's latest contract, reportedly worth 7 million euros, brought him back to AC Milan in January following an initial stint with the team between 2010 and 2012 during which he scored 42 goals. Before his return to Italy, Ibrahimovic had played for LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer in the US.

Ibrahimovic began his professional career with Sweden's Malmo FF in 1999.

Read Also: AC Milan's fans banking on Ibrahimovic to rescue ailing club

Former national footballer and member of Swadhin Bangla Football team AKM Nowsheruzzaman passed away Monday night at a city hospital after suffering from Covid-19 .

The famed striker breathed his last at about 9:30pm on Monday after battling with coronavirus for about 13 days at ICU of the Ibne Sina Hospital in the capital .

The 72-year-old left behind his wife, a son and daughter and a large number of admirers to mourn his death.

The body of Nowsher was brought to Bangabandhu National Stadium on Tuesday morning where a small number of sportsmen, organisers and sports lovers paid their tribute.

Most of his teammates, club mates and the top sportsmen and organisers were absent in his Janaja.

His first namaj-e-janaza was held at Bangabandhu National Stadium at about 10am before his mortal remains were taken to Munshiganj, where he was brought up.

Later, his body will be taken to his village home in Chandpur’s Matlab for burial. His third and final Janaja will be held at his home village in Chandpur after Asr prayers on Tuesday.

Earlier, he was admitted to Ibne Sina Hospital on September 7 in the capital after his health condition deteriorated. He was shifted to the ICU the next day as his condition further deteriorated. He was on life support.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina bore his medical expenses.

Nowsheruzzaman, a Dhaka University Blue Award winner, played for Bangladesh National Football team, clubs like Dhaka Mohammedan, Victoria SC, Dhaka Wanderers Club, Wari Club, Fire Services and WAPDA, apart from taking part in the Liberation War as a young member of Swadhin Bangla Football.

Nowsher, who emerged as the highest scorer in the Dhaka League in 1975 scoring 21 goals, also played cricket as opening batsman for Dhaka Mohammedan SC and Kalabagan KC.

Read Also: Covid-19 in Bangladesh: Caseload exceeds 3.5 lakh; deaths near 5k

Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) on Monday handed over the trophies that were pending to the winners of different league competitions over the last 5 years through a program held in front of federation ground in the city.

BFF President Kazi Mohammad Salahuddin and Senior Vice President Abdus Salam Murshedy MP and other federation members and officials were present on the occasion.

The BFF distributed some 23 pending trophies of the Bangladesh Premier League, Championship League, Senior Division League, First Division, 2nd Division and 3rd Division Leagues for the last five years from 2015 to 2019.

Among the 23 trophies, six were for the league champions, eleven for the runners-up, three for the 3rd ranked, two for the 4th ranked and one for the 5th placed team.

Addressing the function, BFF boss Kazi Salahuddin congratulated the champion teams for their feats and hoped they will maintain their brilliant performances in future too.

Also read:BFF Election: Sk Maruf Hasan collects nomination for post of vice president
 

Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) Football champions Bashundhara Kings plan to tour the Maldives to play friendly football matches against two leading Maldives clubs—TC Sports and Maziya Sports and Recreation Club —in October.

National star-studded and the formidable foreign footballers based Bashundhara Kings are likely to fly for the Maldives in the middle of October to play friendly matches as a part of their preparation for the country's ensuing domestic football season.

Earlier, the Kings were placed in the four-team Group E of the Asian 2nd tier Club Football Tournament, the AFC Cup, were scheduled to play their five remaining group matches in the Maldives from October 23 to November 4 this year, but they suffered a big blow as the AFC Cup’ has been cancelled in the dying moment on September 10 due to flight restriction following Covid-19 pandemic.

As the apex body of Asian Football, the AFC, cancelled the AFC Cup’2020, featuring all the Group E matches in the Maldives, that make the Bashundhara Kings interested to start their preparation for the country’s domestic season in the Maldives, playing preparatory matches against their two Group E rivals--TC Sports and Maziya SRC of the Maldives,

Bashundhara Kings already brought their three foreign booters--Brazilians Robson Azevedo da Silva, Jonathan da Silveria Fernandes Reis and Argentine Hernan Barcos--in the capital on September 10 to join training camp for the AFC Cup and as well as for the ensuing domestic football season.

However, the country’s new domestic football season is likely to begin with the Federation Cup Football in the first week of December after completing the necessary registration formalities in October-November next.

In a professional football league committee meeting recently, the committee allowed maximum four foreign booters for a team including one from Asia and all the four foreign footballers will be entitled to play together in a match for the team.

Meanwhile, on last Saturday (Sept 19), Bashundhara Kings completed their quota of four foreign booters for the ensuing football season (2020-21) confirming 33 years old Iranian defender Khaled Shafiei in Asian quota.

Khaled Shafiei, who played in the Persian League for Sepahan FC and in the South Korean K-League for FC Seoul, is expected to arrive Dhaka in the first week of October as the club’s 4th and last foreign player as a replacement of their Argentine defender Nicholas Delmonte.

In the AFC Cup, BPL champions Kings was on the top of the four-team Group E after their 5-1 victory over Maldivian club TC Sports in the first match at Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka on March 11.

Chennai City FC of India and Maziya S&RC of the Maldives shared the second slot following a 2-2 draw between the two teams played in Chennai, also on March 11.

Also read: Bashundhara Kings completes foreign players quota confirming Khaled Shafiei of Iran

Kazi Salahuddin, gunning for a fourth consecutive term as president of Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF), announced his manifesto Sunday ahead of the election which will take place on October 3. 

Salahuddin’s Sammillita Parishad hosted an event on Sunday at a Dhaka hotel to reveal his manifesto and introduce his panel. Most of the members of the last panel of Salahuddin are still with him while many opted out as well.

Salahuddin, the brightest star of the country's football history, became the president of BFF for the first time back in 2008. He also won the election in 2012 and announced that he will do everything to qualify for the World Cup 2022. But halfway through qualification, this looks as unlikely as ever before. He had formed an initiative named “Vision 2022” which has only bitten the dust during the last eight years.

He is yet to face a strong challenger though, and this has hurt the country's football development. This time again, following some withdrawals and late surprises, the election is Salahuddin's to lose, despite an abundance of disappointment over the stalled progress of the game in Bangladesh.

Salahuddin said there was confusion about his Vision 2022. He claimed that he never said that he will work to make sure Bangladesh qualify for Qatar World Cup.

“I think there is confusion among you. I never said that we would qualify for the World Cup in Qatar. We said we would try to qualify. We always have to have a plan along the way,” Salahuddin told the media today. 

“We are going to introduce a long-term and sustainable plan for Bangladesh football. If we get elected again, we will take specific actions to improve our position in the world ranking. We will try to become one of the best 150 teams in the world. And at the same time, we will put our best foot forward to make our women's team one of the best 90 teams in the ranking,” Salahuddin added. 

When Salahuddin took charge in 2008, Bangladesh was at 180 in the world ranking while they are now at 187. He tried to justify this situation saying: “Look at France- they are the world champion but not at the top of the ranking. Fifa Friendly matches are very important. We had a financial crisis, and so we failed to play many matches.”

In the new manifesto, Salahuddin and his team repeated most of what they had said ahead of the last election. In the last election, there were 25 points in their manifesto. Now they have increased to 36 points. 

Salahuddin’s manifesto said they are committing to host Bangabandhu Gold Cup every year and regain the title of SAFF Championship and SA Games. Along with these, they said they are committed to appointing high-profile coaching staff, creating a profile of the players, establishing a regular calendar for domestic events and forming by-laws for the domestic leagues. Salahuddin's panel also said they will arrange all the facilities at least in four venues to host international games. 

One of the longest-serving BFF presidents, Salahuddin, claimed to have completed 'at least 75 percent' of their last manifesto’s commitments. “We are sorry that we failed to do the rest of the works. But we are saying now is prepared for three months. We have researched a lot. We cannot take our football forward alone. For this, the players, coaches, officials and sponsors all have to work together."

Also read: BFF Election’20: Kazi Salahuddin’s rival panel formed