Chattogram’s sports community wants regular leagues restored after three years without consistent competition. Players and organisers also want a clear roadmap for elections and the handover of the Chattogram District Sports Association (CJKSA) to an elected committee.
Cricketers, footballers and sports organisers raised the demands at a meeting with CJKSA ad hoc committee member secretary Mohammad Salahuddin at the CJKSA auditorium in Kazir Dewri on Tuesday evening. More than 100 players and sports officials attended.
Salahuddin said CJKSA will hold its election by November 27 and hand responsibility to the elected committee.
He also promised a fair vote.
“The election will not take place through fear or occupation. Genuine sportspeople and organisers will come into leadership through a fair and acceptable election,” Salahuddin said.
The ad hoc committee has spent three months and seven days in office, according to Salahuddin. He said the committee had made progress on the election and councillor formation before legal complications delayed the process.
He added that the legal problems have now been resolved with help from the relevant parties.
The return of the cricket league also featured prominently at the meeting. Salahuddin said the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) recently wrote to CJKSA about restarting the competition.
He said discussions with the district administration and the ad hoc committee produced a positive response. He also held talks with BCB director and finance committee chairman Israfil Khosru.
Salahuddin said the Premier Cricket League needs at least 12 teams. He claimed the teams remain ready but warned that attempts to disrupt the competition could emerge.
The three-year gap has already hurt players. Several cricketers and footballers have turned to other jobs because they cannot earn regularly from sport.
Some players now work as delivery riders or ride-hailing drivers. Salahuddin described the situation as heartbreaking.
He pointed to the same grounds that produced national players such as Tamim Iqbal and Mamun and said Chattogram cannot allow organised sport to disappear.
However, several organisers argued that an election alone will not solve the problem. They want CJKSA to publish a fixed annual sporting calendar and guarantee regular leagues.
Sports organiser and journalist Saifullah Chowdhury questioned the composition of the current seven-member ad hoc committee. He said five members come from the administration and argued that the body lacks enough people with direct sporting experience.
Cricketer and Ambia Group managing director Abul Hashem Raja became emotional while describing the decline of Chattogram cricket. He recalled a time when seven or eight Chattogram players could represent Bangladesh together.
Cricketer and organiser Mohammad Abu Zafar said he has spent around 24-25 years in cricket but has seen regular competition disappear in Chattogram during the last three years.
He said some players now spend their own money to play abroad because they cannot find enough competitive cricket at home.
The players at the meeting made their priority clear. They care less about when the election takes place than when they can return to regular competition with a proper schedule.
National footballers Mohammad Shahed and Nasir Uddin, cricketer Iqbal Bahar, journalists Sattar and Tanvir Ahmed, CJKSA councillor Sarwar Alam Chowdhury Moni and sports organiser Nur Zahed Babul also spoke at the meeting.
