United News of Bangladesh

Former vice-president of Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF), renowned politician and businessman Tabith Awal will contest for the hot seat of BFF president in the upcoming election scheduled for October 26. Tabith Awal made this announcement officially at a press conference at a local hotel Monday afternoon. This time Tabith Awal is keen to contest for the presidential post as the former president Kazi Mohammad Salahuddin recently announced that he is not going to contest in the upcoming BFF election after completing his four terms. Tabith was elected as BFF vice-president for two terms in 2012 and 2016 as an independent candidate during the Kazi Salahuddin regime, but lost to Mohiuddin Mohi in the same post in the 2020 election. Tabith is now vying for the presidency in his fourth consecutive election in a comparatively favourable situation. “I’ve competed in the last three elections, and I’m running again—this time for the position of president. I’m confident of my chances,” Tabith said. Tabith, a member of the BNP’s national committee and two-time mayor candidate of Dhaka North City Corporation, expressed his belief in his ability to elevate football in Bangladesh. "I will present my election promises soon. But for now, I can assure you that if I become president, I will bring surprises to the field. I am determined to take football to the next level," he further said. Replying to a question on his previous tenure, Tabith said that he had not faced any major obstacles while serving as vice president. He also highlighted his role as chairman of the BFF’s technical committee, during which many local football coaches were developed under his leadership. However, Another sports organizer-businessman Tarafder Md Ruhul Amin also expressed his intention to contest for BFF president at a press conference last week.

The semifinal berth of Bangladesh from Group A of the six- nation South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) U-17 Championship' 2024 has become uncertain after playing 1-1 draw with Islanders Maldives in their last group match at the Changlimithang Stadium in the Bhutanese capital Thimphu on Sunday evening. In the tournament opener last Friday, Bangladesh faced a disappointing 0-1 defeat against their formidable neighbor India, conceding a goal in injury time after putting up a strong fight during the regular 90 minutes. However, the semifinal berth of Bangladesh will now depend on India-Maldives last Group A match scheduled for next Tuesday (September 24). India must defeat the Maldives by at least 2-0 to secure a semifinal berth for Bangladesh. After barren first half in the day's match, Murshed Ali put Bangladesh ahead in the 49th minute by a spectacular shot from top of the box, utilizing a left cross of his team mate (1-0). Maldives captain Mohamed Ilan Imran leveled the margin in the 79th minute by a placing shot beating two opponent defenders and advancing custodian (1-1). The day's match between teams were locked in a goalless position in the first half. Bangladesh dominated the first half all through and did everything except scoring goal. They spoiled half dozens of good chances in the half, most of which were saved by Maldives custodian. In the 2nd half, Bangladesh also maintained their supremacy but failed to take its fruits due to shakiness of their forwards. Moreover, they conceded a goal against the flow on the match. Earlier, Bangladesh put in strong Group A in the SAFF Junior meet with stronger India and the Maldives while Group B team consists of Nepal, Pakistan and hosts Bhutan. Group A champions will play Group B runners up in the first semifinal at 2 pm while Group B champions will face Group A runners up at 6 pm in the other semifinal, both on Sept 28. The final match is scheduled to take place at 6 PM on September 30.

Michael Olise scored twice and Harry Kane scored his 10th club goal of the season as Bayern Munich brushed aside Werder Bremen 5-0 for its latest big win on Saturday. Bayern has 20 goals in only its last three games after beating Holstein Kiel 6-1 last week and demolishing Dinamo Zagreb 9-2 in the Champions League on Tuesday. It was Bayern's sixth win in six games in all competitions under new coach Vincent Kompany, and comes ahead of playing Bundesliga champion Bayer Leverkusen next week. Bayern has 16 goals and three conceded from its four Bundesliga games. Also on Saturday, Vincenzo Grifo scored twice as Freiburg beat Heidenheim 3-0 for its third win in four league games. Union Berlin won 2-1 against Hoffenheim, which has lost three in a row. Promoted Holstein Kiel earned its first top-division point when Shuto Machino's 89th-minute goal salvaged a 2-2 draw at Bochum. Eintracht Frankfurt hosted Borussia Moenchengladbach later Saturday.

Bangladesh U-20 Football team made a frustrating start in Group A match of the AFC U-20 Asian Cup' 2025 Qualifiers losing to upper ranked Syria by 0-4 goals in one of the two  opening day's match at the Lach Tray Stadium in the Vietnamese city of Hai Phong Saturday evening The SAFF U-20 champions Bangladesh, FIFA ranked 186th,  were trailing by 0-2 goals against FIFA ranked 92nd Syria in the first half of the day's rain delayed 2nd match. Kawa Issa put Syria ahead in the very 5th minute (1-0), Youshaa Knaj doubled the margin in the 12th minute (2-0), Wassam Dukhan scored the 3rd goal in the 72nd minute (3-0)  while Anas Dahhan sealed the fate of the scoring the 4th goal in the 80th minute (4-0) In the day's opening Group A match,  Bhutan played to a one-all draw with Guam at the same venue Saturday afternoon. Earlier, Bangladesh team was placed in five- team Group A of the U-20 Asian Cup with Syria, hosts Vietnam, Bhutan and Guam. In the remaining group matches, Bangladesh will play Guam on Monday (Sept 23), host Vietnam on Friday (Sept 27) and Bhutan on Sunday (Sept 29). Ten Asian group champions along with five best group runners up will qualify for the next round of the AFC U-2O Asian Cup.

Bangladesh made a frustrating start in the six- nation South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) U-17 Championship' 2024 losing to India by 0-1 goal in the injury time at the Changlimithang Stadium in the Bhutanese capital Thimphu Friday evening. When the crucial match between two sub continental rivals were almost heading for a goalless draw after stipulated 90- minute, then Sumit Sharma scored the match-winner for India in the first minute of the injury time by a header from goal mouth melee, capitalizing a corner kick (1-0) Bangladesh national football team also lost to hosts Bhutan by 0-1 goal after conceding an injury time goal in the similar fashion at the same venue early this month. After conceding the goal in the day's the match, Bangladesh managed a good chance for equaliser from a counter attack in the injury time, but Bangladeshi forward failed to make header from close finding helpless opponent custodian. The match was keenly contested till the final whistle where Bangladesh played better in the first half while India in the 2nd half. Earlier, Bangladesh put in strong Group A in the SAFF Junior meet with stronger India and the Maldives while Group B team consists of Nepal, Pakistan and hosts Bhutan. In the remaining group match, Bangladesh will face the Maldives on Sunday (Sept 22) at the same time and same venue. Group A champions will play Group B runners up in the first semifinal at 2 pm while Group B champions will face Group A runners up at 6 pm in the other semifinal, both on Sept 28. The final match will be held on Sept 30 at 6: pm.

The Bangladesh U-20 football team reached the Vietnamese city of Hai Phong on Thursday to participate in the Group A matches of the AFC U-20 Asian Cup' 2025 Qualifiers beginning on Saturday at the Lach Tray Stadium there. Bangladesh Youth Team, which left Dhaka for Vietnam Wednesday midnight and landed in the capital Hanoi Thursday morning at 10:45 am local time. Later, the Bangladesh team moved to Hai Phong city from Hanoi by bus and stayed at the Shine Hotel there. The weather in Hai Phong City is now cloudy, and it was raining with some intervals. The touring Bangladesh team is scheduled to make their practices Thursday evening from 6:15 to 7:15 pm. Earlier, Bangladesh was placed in five-team Group A of the U-20 Asian Cup with Syria, hosts Vietnam, Bhutan, and Guam. Bangladesh will play the stronger Syria in the opening match on Saturday at 7 pm. In the remaining group matches, Bangladesh will play Guam on Monday (Sept 23), play hosts Vietnam on Friday (September 27), and Bhutan on Sunday (September29).

Harry Kane and Bayern Munich are scoring a torrent of goals under new coach Vincent Kompany, but the England striker still thinks they're vulnerable. Despite netting four times in Bayern's record-breaking 9-2 win over Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League on Tuesday, Kane seemed more concerned with the two soft goals the team conceded just after half-time. “We need to learn. We spoke about, already this season, continuing the performance from the first half. Each first half we've played has been really good this season. The second half has kind of dropped off," Kane told broadcaster DAZN after the game. "We got away with it today because we were able to step up another gear but against the top opposition we could get punished for that, so we need to try and iron that out.” Bayern has scored a scarcely believable 24 goals in five games in all competitions under Kompany — nine of them by Kane — but hasn’t faced top-class opposition yet. That means it's still an open question whether Kompany's Bayern is a better team than the one that finished an underwhelming third in the Bundesliga last season. Against Zagreb, there were echoes of how Bayern played under Kompany’s predecessors Julian Nagelsmann and Thomas Tuchel — lots of goals, but fragile under pressure. Zagreb scored back-to-back goals in the 49th and 50th minutes to expose glaring gaps at the back and briefly cut the deficit to 3-2. The positioning of central defenders Dayot Upamecano and Kim Min-jae, who have been Bayern's first-choice partnership for a year, was a particular issue. Bayern's next game is on Saturday at Werder Bremen, which beat Tuchel's team 1-0 in January. Bremen, ninth last season, will be Kompany's first opponent that finished in the top half of the table. Despite Kompany's experience as a player, taking over at Bayern has been a big step up for a coach who was in charge of Burnley when that club was relegated from the English Premier League last season. The former Belgium defender was far from Bayern's top choice, either. The club was stung by a very public failure to sign preferred targets like Bayer Leverkusen's Xabi Alonso or Germany's Nagelsmann — or even to persuade Tuchel to stay — before eventually landing on Kompany, who signed in May. With a high-profile Bundesliga test coming on Sept. 28 against champion Leverkusen, Bayern doesn’t have long to iron out defensive problems. Elsewhere in the league, two Champions League teams meet on Sunday as Stuttgart plays Borussia Dortmund. Leverkusen takes on Wolfsburg the same day and Leipzig visits promoted St. Pauli, which is without a league win since its coach Fabian Hürzeler left for Brighton in the close season.

FIFA made a high-profile signing from UEFA on Wednesday, hiring one of the most respected executives in European soccer. Kevin Lamour, currently UEFA's deputy general secretary, will join FIFA as chief operating officer on Nov. 1, soccer's world body told staff on Wednesday in an email seen by The Associated Press. The 44-year-old French official has worked at UEFA in two different spells since 2007 and gained a reputation as an advocate for good governance in soccer bodies. The move to FIFA reunites Lamour with its president Gianni Infantino and secretary general Mattias Grafström. They worked together for several years at UEFA and on Infantino's successful election campaign in 2016. Lamour declined the chance to work for FIFA then, and soon returned to UEFA which he had left in 2015 after his longtime boss Michel Platini was investigated in financial wrongdoing with then-FIFA president Sepp Blatter. Lamour was not implicated in that case and was back running the UEFA president's executive office for the new incumbent, Aleksander Čeferin. Though FIFA and UEFA have often had tense relations under Infantino and Čeferin, the FIFA message to staff Wednesday noted a “smooth and friendly transition while making Kevin available to us so quickly.”

Bangladesh Under-17 Football team reached Bhutan on Wednesday morning to participate in the six-nation South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) U-17 Championship 2024 beginning in Thimphu on Friday. After reaching the Bhutanese capital Thimphu, the Bangladesh team made a one and a half-hour long first training session at the Changiji training ground Wednesday afternoon. Earlier, Bangladesh put in strong Group A in the SAFF Junior meet with stronger India and the Maldives, while the Group B team consists of Nepal, Pakistan, and hosts Bhutan. Bangladesh will play their giant neighbour India in the opening match on Friday at 6 pm at the Changlimithang Stadium in the Bhutanese capital. In the remaining group match, Bangladesh will face the Maldives on Sunday (September 22) at the same time and same venue. Group A champions will play Group B runners up in the first semifinal at 2:00 pm while Group B champions will face Group A runners up at 6 pm in the other semifinal, both on Sept 28. The final match will be held on September 30 at 6:00 pm.

The Bangladesh U-20 football team will for Vietnam on Wednesday at 11:15 pm to participate in the Group A matches of the AFC U-20 Asian Cup Qualifiers beginning on Saturday at the Lach Tray Stadium in Hai Phong. Earlier, Bangladesh was placed in five-team Group A of the U-20 Asian Cup with Syria, hosts Vietnam, Bhutan, and Guam. Bangladesh will play the stronger Syria in the opening match on Saturday at 7 pm. In the remaining group matches, Bangladesh will play Guam on Monday (September 23), hosts Vietnam on Friday (September 27), and Bhutan on Sunday (September 29).