DHAKA, May 26, 2024 (BSS)- The fourth edition of prestigious Bangabandhu Cup
2024 International Kabaddi Tournament got underway through a colorful opening
ceremony at Shaheed Suhrawardy Indoor Stadium in the city's Mirpur.

Youth and Sports Minister Nazmul Hassan Papon formally inaugurated the
tournament as the chief guest by releasing balloons.

The Minister became ecstatic while seeing the official opening and setup of
the tournament bearing the name of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the
Father of the Nation.

"It's incredibly tough to organise any large international competition," he
stated during the inaugural programme and adding: "Bangladesh Kabaddi
Federation is organising the tournament for four consecutive years. My
heartfelt greetings to all including president and general secretary of the
federation. Not one or two, but 12 countries are participating here this
time, it's not an easy task."

"I'm very happy with the way that the Kabaddi Federation is running the game
and I will extend all kinds of support to them from my ministry. We made a
short list of important sports. Kabaddi is on that shortlist. On the other
hand, it's our national game and we have to do well in this game. If we want
to start Kabaddi from our grassroots level, we'll have to start it in our
educational institutions first. It'll be a good step to produce new players.
I talked to the Minister for Education yesterday (Saturday) about this. We
want to sit together for the sake of Kabaddi," he continued.

The sports minister said Bangladesh is working with an eye on the World Cup.
He said: "Our target is to play in the World Cup. As Kabaddi is our national
game and if we can work properly, we'll be able to advance and Bangladesh
will get good results at the international level of Kabaddi."

Papon said the ministry will work together with the ministry of education to
spread Kabaddi across the country. "I'm not thinking about clubs at this
moment. I want to go further down. I want players to come out of the school
level. If we can organise Kabaddi competitions in schools, colleges, and
universities every year, we'll get a lot of players. Actually, our first task
is to spread Kabaddi across the country," he added.

Bangladesh Kabaddi Federation President and Inspector General of Bangladesh
Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun presided over the opening programme.
General Secretary of the federation and DMP Commissioner Habibur Rahman and
others were also present in the opening ceremony.