United News of Bangladesh

National star studded Nasrin Sports Academy emerged as the new champions in the nine-team UCB Women's Football League 2023-24 with unbeaten records crushing Dhaka Rangers FC by 13-0 goals at the Bir Shreshtha Shaheed Shipahi Mohammad Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur here on Tuesday. Nasrin Sports Academy, the runners -up team of the 2019-20 season, clinched their maiden league crown this time as the only unbeaten team in the league securing 22 points from eight matches with seven wins and a draw. Last three times champions Bashundhara Kings this time withdrew their team from the women's football team Ataur Rahman Bhuiyan College SC, finished league runners-up for the 3rd consecutive times collecting 19 points from eight league matches with six wins, one draw and one defeat while Dhaka Rangers FC remained at the 7th slot with seven points. Bangladesh Army FC finished 3rd in the league securing 18 points from all eight matches. In the day's last match, national captain Sabina Khatun made a hattrick for Nasrin Sports Academy scoring five goals and was adjudged the highest scorer of the league scoring 17 goals. Sumiaya Matsushima made another hattrick for Nasrin SA scoring three goals, Ritu Porna Chakma netted two while Maria Manda, Monika Chakma and Shamsunnahar netted one each for the new champions. Champions Nasrin Sports Academy also received the fair play trophy as the most disciplined team while Mosammat Sultana of Bangladesh Army named as the most valuable player of the league.

Siraj Smrity Sangsad advanced to the fourth slot in the nine-team UCB Women's Football League 2023-24, beating Farashganj SC by 3-1 goals at the Bir Shreshtha Shaheed Shipahi Mohammad Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Dhaka's Kamalapur on Monday. In the day's match, Thuinuye Marma scored twice in the 16th and 78th minutes for the winners, while Alpi Akter netted the other goal in the 39th minute. Women's Football League: Nasrin Sports Academy take solo lead beating Bangladesh Army Sathi Munda netted the consolation goal for the losers in the 87th minute. After the day's match, Siraj Smrity Sangsad moved up to fourth place in the league table securing 11 points after playing all eight matches, while Farashganj SC went down to the sixth slot with nine points from all eight league encounters. Women's Football League: Bangladesh Army taste first defeat losing to Suddopuskorini JSC 1-2 The national star studded Nasrin Sports Academy, poised for their maiden league title as the lone unbeaten team in the league, securing 19 points from seven matches with six wins and a draw, and needed just a draw in the remaining match against Dhaka Rangers FC on Tuesday at 4 pm to assure the league crown. Last time, runners-up Ataur Rahman Bhuiyan College SC also shared the top slot with Nasrin Sports Academy, collecting 19 points each, but they played all eight of their matches. Women's Football League: Farashganj SC advance to 4th slot beating Suddopuskorini JSC Bangladesh Army FC followed the leaders distantly, securing 15 points from seven matches and already out of the title race.

Two arch-rivals--Dhaka Mohammedan SC and Dhaka Abahani Limited stayed in the runners-up race of the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) Football 2023-24 beating their rivals at two separate venues on Saturday afternoon. Dhaka Mohammedan defeated former champions Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club by 3-1 goals at the Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani Stadium in Gopalganj while Dhaka Abahani Ltd beat Chittagong Abahani Ltd by 3-2 goals at the Bir Shreshtha Fl Lt Matiur Rahman Stadium in Munshiganj. After the day's matches, Dhaka Mohammedan SC and Dhaka Abahani Limited have secured 32 points each from 17 matches, and will now meet each other on Wednesday (May 29)  to decide the runners-up of the ongoing league. FIFA sanctions BFF SVP Salam Murshedy; extends ban, fines on former BFF GS Shohag Earlier, star-studded Bashundhara Kings clinched the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) Football title for a record 5th consecutive time securing 43 points from 17 matches. In Gopalganj, Malian forward Souleymane Diabate struck twice for the traditional black and whites Mohammedan in the 36th and 90th minutes while Nigerian midfielder Emmanuel Sunday netted another goal for Mohammedan in the 53rd minute. Uzbek defender S Kholmatov scored the consolation goal for Sheikh Jamal DC in the added time (90+4 minutes) of the match from a penalty. In Munshiganj, St Vincent striker Cornelius Stewart guided Dhaka Abahani to the victory from behind making a hattrick scoring all three goals in the 80th, 90th and 90+3 minutes. Medio Mannaf Rabbi and Riaj Uddin Sagor scored one each for Chittagong Abahani in the 20th and 67th minutes, respectively. Women's Football League: Farashganj SC advance to 4th slot beating Suddopuskorini JSC In the day's other match, former champions Sheikh Russel KC beat bottom-placed Brothers Union Club by 3-2 goals at the Muktijoddha Smriti Stadium in  Rajshahi on Saturday. Sumon Reza, Akhror and Chandon scored one each for the winners while Eleta Kingsley scored both goals for the losers.

The adjudicatory chamber of the Independent Ethics Committee of the World Football Body, FIFA, has sanctioned five officials of the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) including its senior vice-president Abdus Salam Murshedy and former BFF general secretary Abu Nayem Shohag. FIFA imposed sanctions upon BFF persons as a result of their conduct while serving as officials of the BFF, said a FIFA media release on Thursday. BFF Senior Vice President Abdus Dalam Murshedy, who is also the chairman of the BFF Finance Committee, has been ordered to pay a fine of Swiss Franc 10,000 (Tk 12,80,000). Former BFF General Secretary, Abu Nayeem Shohag, has been banned from taking part in any football-related activity for a duration of three years, which earlier was two- years, and ordered to pay a fine of Swiss Franc 20,000 (Tk 25,60,000). Abu Hossain, former Chief Financial Officer of the BFF, and Mizanur Rahman, former Manager - Operations of the BFF, have both been banned from taking part in any football-related activity for a duration of two years and ordered to pay individual fines amounting to CHF 10,000. Imrul Hasan Sharif, Procurement and Store Officer of the BFF, has been ordered to undergo compliance training provided by FIFA and issued with a warning with respect to his future conduct. BFF Procurement and Store Officer Imrul Hasan Sharif has been ordered to undergo compliance training provided by FIFA and issued a warning with regard to his future conduct. The decisions were taken following separate hearings and upon careful analysis, in each of the applicable proceedings, of both the evidence provided before the adjudicatory chamber and the evidence collected during the investigations conducted by the investigatory chamber. The adjudicatory chamber was comfortably satisfied that the above individuals were involved in and/or participated in a number of transactions supported with false and/or falsified documentation, which were paid, or expected to be paid, with FIFA funds, the release added.

FIFA was urged by international lawyers Wednesday to uphold its own policy and scrutinize Saudi Arabia’s human rights record before picking the kingdom to host the men’s 2034 World Cup. A 22-page document was delivered to FIFA headquarters in Zurich on behalf of Mark Pieth and Stefan Wehrenberg of Switzerland and British barrister Rodney Dixon. They offered to work with FIFA on an action plan and monitoring of Saudi Arabia by independent experts. FIFA reveals promised anti-racism pledge and urges all soccer bodies to mandate abuse as an offense Their paper calls on FIFA to use its leverage now with Saudi Arabia to comply with international human rights standards that the world soccer body’s own policy since 2017 has required of tournament hosts. “It is obvious that Saudi Arabia falls very far short of those requirements,” the document states. “Given this, as matters currently stand, FIFA simply cannot properly permit it to host the 2034 World Cup.” They cite Saudi Arabia’s record on freedom of expression and assembly, treatment of prisoners and migrant workers, and male guardianship laws that limit personal freedoms for women. Saudi Arabia has consistently said it is changing fast as part of the Vision 2030 program to modernize the kingdom’s economy and society driven by crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. Hosting more sports and entertainment events is key to the program to be less dependent on oil riches.Saudi Arabia is the only candidate to host the 2034 World Cup in a fast-track process FIFA opened last October in a surprise move. By brokering a three-continent, six nation co-hosting deal for the 2030 tournament, FIFA effectively cleared a path for Saudi Arabia to get the following edition without a rival bid. The Saudi bid must be formally submitted by July and is set to be confirmed on Dec. 11 in an online vote by FIFA’s 211 member federations. The lawyers want FIFA to use the leverage it has now with the bid to comply with the soccer body’s own policy drafted seven years by Harvard University professor John Ruggie. He previously shaped the United Nations guiding principles on business and human rights. “Let’s give FIFA a chance,” Pieth told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “FIFA has written a very impressive document and I would be really happy to see FIFA live up to its standards.” Pieth previously worked with FIFA between 2011 and 2014 advising on anti-corruption and good governance reforms after a bribery scandal in its presidential election held six months after Russia and Qatar were picked as future World Cup hosts. Key reforms such as term limits for senior officials are now in retreat across soccer and FIFA totally resisted putting independent outsiders on its ruling committee. After controversy about lack of scrutiny of 2022 World Cup host Qatar — mostly over the treatment of migrant workers needed to build stadiums and infrastructure projects — FIFA acted seven years ago to embed human rights assessments of tournament bidders. Since 2017, one year after Gianni Infantino was elected FIFA president in fallout from sweeping investigations of corrupt soccer officials, he has built close ties to Saudi Arabia and its crown prince. Pieth, Wehrenberg and Dixon said their paper to FIFA was written “on behalf of persons who are suffering from serious violations of their basic human rights and freedoms by Saudi Arabia.” “The authors of this submission are ready to engage constructively with FIFA to ensure that these minimum requirements, at least, are achieved,” they said. FIFA was contacted for comment. Bid rules for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups commit FIFA to respecting human rights in “activities in connection with the bidding for and hosting” of tournaments rather than in wider society. Pieth told The AP any FIFA-backed monitoring group of Saudi Arabia must have “real, credible experts and independence.” The paper to FIFA said it should include “expert members from victims groups, NGOs, UN agencies, international unions and civil society organizations.” The state-backed Saudi Human Rights Commission — whose leader met Infantino in Jeddah in December during the Club World Cup – was “not an appropriate alternative” to an independent group, the paper said. Ruggie’s work with FIFA included a human rights advisory board that was closed after delivering a scheduled report early in 2021, removing a forum to oversee Qatar less than two years out from the World Cup.

Farashganj SC advanced to the 4th slot in the nine-team UCB Women's Football League 2023-24 beating Suddopuskorini Jubo SC by 1-0 goal at the Bir Shreshtha Shaheed Shipahi Mohammad Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur on Tuesday. After a barren first half, Popi Rani scored the match winning goal for the old Dhaka outfit Farashganj SC in the 81st minute (1-0). After the day's feat, Farashganj SC moved up to the 4th place in the league table securing nine points from seven matches while Suddopuskorini JSC went down to the 6th slot with seven points from six encounters. National star studded Nasrin Sports Academy poised for their maiden league title as the lone unbeaten team in the league securing 16 points from six matches with five wins and a draw Last time runners-up Ataur Rahman Bhuiyan College SC also shared the top slot collecting 16 points from seven matches, with five wins, one draw and one defeat. However, they played one more match than the Nasrin SA. Bangladesh Army FC followed the leaders distantly securing 12 points from six outings.

Bashundhara Kings, which clinched BPL title for a record 5th times in a row early this month, will play defending champions Dhaka Mohammedan SC in the final match of the Federation Cup Football'2023-24 on Wednesday (May 22). The title deciding final will kick -off at 3 pm at the Rafiq Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium in Mymensingh. The final match was earlier scheduled for Tuesday (May 21), has been deferred by a day on Wednesday (May 22) for the local Upazila election. Oscar Bruzon's Bashundhara Kings, are very much serious this time for clinching the treble crown in the season for the first time after winning the season's two major soccer trophies---the Independence Cup Football and the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) Football. Dhaka Mohamnedan SC, which clinched the Federation Cup title after long time last year beating six-time BPL champions Dhaka Abahani Ltd in the final in tie-breaker, also looking for the 2nd consecutive Federation Cup title. In the ongoing season, Bashundhara Kings are enjoying an upperhand advantage over Dhaka Mohammedan SC beating them twice against one defeat in their last three meetings. The Kings beat Mohammedan SC by 2-1 goals in the Independence Cup Football in last December, but Mohammedan SC took its revenge beating the Kings by 1-0 goal in the first phase of BPL last February. However, Bashundhara Kings clinched the BPL title for a record 5th times in a row with three matches to spare beating Dhaka Mohammedan SC by 2-1 goals in the 2nd phase of BPL held in the 2nd week of this month. In the last six meetings, Basundhara Kings also won four matches against Mohammedan SC conceding two defeats. Bashundhara Kings smartly reached the final of the Federation Cup Football eliminating Dhaka Abahani Limited by 3-0 goals in the 2nd semifinal while Dhaka Mohammedan SC reached the final for the 2nd successive times beating Bangladesh Police FC by 2-1 goals in the first semifinal. Earlier, Dhaka Mohammedan SC beat Sheikh Russel KC 2-1, Bashundhara Kings defeated Rahmatganj MFS 2-0, Police FC outplayed Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club 3-0 and Dhaka Abahani Ltd beat Fortis FC 3-1 in their respective quarterfinals to reach the semifinals of the ongoing Federation Cup Football.

Manchester United set up another FA Cup final against fierce rival Manchester City in a way no one could ever have imagined. In a semifinal match on Sunday that will live long in the memory, United blew a three-goal lead against second-tier Coventry, was saved by the narrowest of offside calls by the VAR in stoppage time of extra time to keep the score at 3-3, then came from behind in a penalty shootout to advance to the May 25 title match back at Wembley Stadium. United's celebrations after Rasmus Hojlund converted the clinching spot kick for a 4-2 win in the shootout were as much of relief as joy. Indeed, United's players looked sheepish — almost embarrassed — as they left the field at England's national stadium compared to their Coventry counterparts, who received the adulation of their proud, flag-waving, blue-clad fans. Advancing to the final in this manner will do nothing to quell the growing uncertainty around the position of United manager Erik ten Hag, whose job might not be saved even by beating City. United, the grandest club in England, is languishing in seventh place in the Premier League and the team's late collapse against Coventry followed a trend of similar performances in recent weeks that will alarm its new co-owner Jim Ratcliffe, who was in the crowd at Wembley after having run the London Marathon. “The standard of the club is much higher than what we have been doing,” said United captain Bruno Fernandes, who could barely raise a smile despite his team getting to an FA Cup final. City, which defeated Chelsea 1-0 in the first of the semifinals on Saturday, was a 2-1 winner over United in last year's final on its way to claiming a Premier League-FA Cup-Champions League treble. That was the first ever cup final between the fierce local rivals — and another has arrived 12 months later. Few will expect a different outcome in next month's match, by which time City will hope to have been crowned Premier League champion again. “It’s mixed feelings," Ten Hag said of beating Coventry. “The way we did it isn’t OK.” United has picked up a nasty habit of blowing leads and it happened again against an inspired Coventry team that is eighth in the Championship and managed by Mark Robins — a former Man United striker who might have saved Alex Ferguson from getting fired three years into his storied tenure as United manager. Scott McTominay, Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes — with a shot that took a deflection before ricocheting into the net — scored to put United 3-0 up by the 58th minute. Coventry, which was bidding to become the first non-Premier League club since Cardiff in 2008 to reach the final, fought back in remarkable fashion with goals from Ellis Sims in the 71st, Callum O'Hare in the 79th and then Haji Wright with an equalizing penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time. Coventry was arguably the stronger of the teams in extra time, with Sims hitting the crossbar and Victor Torp having a goal in the first minute of second-half stoppage time ruled out because of a close offside call against Wright in the buildup. “Had he cut his toe nail, it wouldn’t have gone to penalties,” Robins said. United midfielder Casemiro, who played out of position at center back in the match, missed the first penalty of the shootout but United recovered, with Coventry failing twice from the spot. LIVERPOOL WINS Liverpool stayed competitive in the Premier League title race with a 3-1 win at Fulham that was illuminated by a stunning free kick by Trent Alexander-Arnold. Ryan Gravenberch and Diogo Jota also scored for Liverpool, which moved level on points with leader Arsenal in the standings but has an inferior goal difference. They are one point ahead of Manchester City, which has a game in hand. In other Premier League games, there were significant wins for Aston Villa and Everton, and a huge win for Crystal Palace. Villa rallied to beat Bournemouth 3-1 and strengthen its bid for Champions League qualification. Unai Emery's team stayed in fourth place but moved six points clear of fifth-place Tottenham, which has two games in hand. Everton defeated Nottingham Forest 2-0 to push five points clear of the relegation zone and boost its chances of extending its 70-year stay in the top flight. Forest published a social-media post after the game which appeared to question the integrity of a match official. Palace scored four goals in the first 31 minutes on the way to a 5-2 win over West Ham.

Coming from behind, title aspirant Nasrin Sports Academy took a solo lead in the nine-team UCB Women's Football League 2023-24, outplaying another title contender, Bangladesh Army FC Ltd, by 3-1 goals at the Bir Shreshtha Shaheed Shipahi Mohammad Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur on Monday. With the day's well-deserved victory, the national star-studded Nasrin Sports Academy dominated the league table as the only unbeaten team, securing 16 points from six matches with five wins and a draw. Ataur Rahman Bhuiyan College SC followed them with 13 points from six encounters. Bangladesh Army FC, which tasted the first defeat in their fifth match, losing to Suddopuskorini JSC by 1-2 goals in the previous match, further went down in the title race with the day's back-to-back defeat and remained in the third slot with 12 points from six matches. In the day's match, striker Sultana put the Army team ahead in the 39th minute to dominate the first half with a 1-0 goal. National defender Masura Parvin levelled the margin for Nasrin SA in the 65th minute (1-1). Captain Cum national forward Sabina Khatun put Nasrin SA ahead from behind in the 70th minute (2-1), while national midfielder Ritu Porna Chakma sealed the fate of the scoring the 3rd goal for Nasrin SA in the 86th minute (3-1).

The Copa America 2024 is scheduled to take place from 20th June to 14th July. Ahead of it, CONMEBOL has published the fixture of the tournament which will take place in the USA. It is the 48th edition of the oldest, still-running international football competition in the world. Argentina are the defending champions of COPA America.  Host and Venues the Copa America 2024  CONMEBOL has a unique way of choosing the hosts for the Copa America. Usually, the responsibility of organizing the tournament is allotted by alphabetical rotational order. In that system, the Copa America 2024 was originally supposed to be hosted by Ecuador. However, Ecuador declined the opportunity. Then Peru and the USA showed interest, and the USA was selected as part of the new strategic partnership of CONMEBOL and CONCACAF.  Table: List of Stadiums Stadium Name Location (States) AT&T Stadium Texas Mercedes-Benz Stadium Georgia Q2 Stadium Texas Bank of America Stadium North Carolina MetLife Stadium New Jersey NRG Stadium Texas SoFi Stadium California Levi's Stadium California State Farm Stadium Arizona Allegiant Stadium Nevada Arrowhead Stadium Missouri Children's Mercy Park Kansas Hard Rock Stadium Florida Inter&Co Stadium Florida . Read more: 19-year-old Utshob taking Bangladesh to the global boxing ring Groups and Fixtures of the 2024 Copa America Tournament The Copa America 2024 will be contested by 16 teams. The teams are divided into 4 groups of four. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-final rounds. From there, single knock-out games in quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals will decide the champions. Table: Groups Group A Group B Group C Group D Argentina Mexica USA Brazil Peru Ecuador Uruguay Colombia Chile Venezuela Panama Paraguay Canada Jamaica Bolivia Costa Rica . Read more: Bangladesh v USA: Freak storm in Houston puts 3-match pre-World Cup series in doubt Table: Match Dates and Times adjusted in Bangladesh Standard-Times Date Team 1 vs Team 2 Time (BST) Stadium Group Stage 21-Jun-24 Argentina vs Canada 6:00 AM Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Georgia 22-Jun-24 Peru vs Chile 6:00 AM AT&T Stadium, Texas 23-Jun-24 Ecuador vs Venezuela 4:00 AM Levi's Stadium, California 23-Jun-24 Mexico vs Jamaica 7:00 AM NRG Stadium, Texas 24-Jun-24 USA vs Bolivia 4:00 AM AT&T Stadium, Texas 24-Jun-24 Uruguay vs Panama 7:00 AM Hard Rock Stadium, Florida 25-Jun-24 Colombia vs Paraguay 4:00 AM NRG Stadium, Texas 25-Jun-24 Brazil vs Costa Rica 7:00 AM SoFi Stadium, California 26-Jun-24 Peru vs Canada 4:00 AM Children's Mercy Park, Kansas 26-Jun-24 Chile vs Argentina 7:00 AM MetLife Stadium, New Jersey 27-Jun-24 Ecuador vs Jamaica 4:00 AM Allegiant Stadium, Nevada 27-Jun-24 Venezuela vs Mexico 7:00 AM SoFi Stadium, California 28-Jun-24 Panama vs USA 4:00 AM Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Georgia 28-Jun-24 Uruguay vs Bolivia 7:00 AM MetLife Stadium, New Jersey 29-Jun-24 Colombia vs Costa Rica 4:00 AM State Farm Stadium, Arizona 29-Jun-24 Paraguay vs Brazil 7:00 AM Allegiant Stadium, Nevada 30-Jun-24 Argentina vs Peru 6:00 AM Hard Rock Stadium, Florida 30-Jun-24 Chile vs Canada 6:00 AM Inter&Co Stadium, Florida 1-Jul-24 Mexico vs Ecuador 6:00 AM State Farm Stadium, Arizona 1-Jul-24 Jamaica vs Venezuela 6:00 AM Q2 Stadium, Texas 2-Jul-24 Bolivia vs Panama 7:00 AM Inter&Co Stadium, Florida 2-Jul-24 USA vs Uruguay 7:00 AM Arrowhead Stadium, Missouri 3-Jul-24 Brazil vs Colombia 7:00 AM Levi's Stadium, California 3-Jul-24 Costa Rica vs Paraguay 7:00 AM Q2 Stadium, Texas Quarter-Finals 5-Jul-24 A1 vs B2 7:00 AM NRG Stadium, Texas 6-Jul-24 B1 vs A2 7:00 AM AT&T Stadium, Texas 7-Jul-24 C1 vs D2 4:00 AM Allegiant Stadium, Nevada 7-Jul-24 D1 vs C2 7:00 AM State Farm Stadium, Arizona Semi-Finals 10-Jul-24 Winner of Quarter-Final 1 vs Winner of Quarter-Final 2 6:00 AM MetLife Stadium, New Jersey 11-Jul-24 Winner of Quarter-Final 3 vs Winner of Quarter-Final 4 6:00 AM Bank of America Stadium, North Carolina Third Place 14-Jul-24 Defeated Team of Semi-Final 1 vs Defeated Team of Semi-Final 2 6:00 AM Bank of America Stadium, North Carolina Grand Finale 15-Jul-24 Winner of Semi-Final 1 vs Winner of Semi-Final 2 6:00 AM Hard Rock Stadium, Florida Conclusion The Copa America 2024 will kick off on the 20th of June with defending champion Argentina taking on Canada at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Runner-ups Brazil will begin their journey on 24th June against Costa Rica at SoFi Stadium. Host USA will play their first match at AT&T Stadium against Bolivia. The tournament will close its curtains on the 14th of July at the Hard Rock Stadium.  Read more: Copa America 2024: Brazil Squad Analysis