B.League draw held
Abahani- Muktijoddha open meet on March 2
Sports Reporter
The much-awaited first-ever Professional Football League rolls onto the pitch on March 2 with a match between Dhaka giants Abahani and Muktijoddha Sangsad at the Bangabandhu National Stadium (BNS).The ceremonial draw for the competition, shortly named B.League, took place at the newly built National Sports Council Tower auditorium yesterday where the logo was also unveiled in front of stars yesteryears, Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) high-ups and the club officials. A total of eleven clubs, including eight from Dhaka Metropolis and three from Khulna and Chittagong metropolis will participate in the meet. Each week there will be three or four matches in Dhaka and one or two matches in Chittagong or Khulna. The matches will be held on Friday, Saturday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The participating teams will first play their home matches for eleven weeks, then they take part in the away matches according to the tournament format. The standing of the teams are Muktijoddha Sangsad Krira Chakra, Dhaka Abahani, Dhaka Mohammedan Sporting Club, Rahmatganj Sporting Club, Farashganj Sporting Club, Brothers Union, Arambagh Krira Sangha, Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra, Chittagong Mohammedan, Khulna Abahani and Chittagong Abahani. Former football folks Jahirul Haq, Abu Yousuf, Sheikh Mohammad Aslam, Kaiser Hamid, Mohammad Mohsin, Khandoker Wasim, Rumman bin Wali Mohammad Sabbir, Hasanuzzaman Bablu picked up the coupons to decide about the team's order. "We are all set to make our dream come true with the launching of the Professional Football League," BFF president SA Sultan told the audience. "We have crossed hundreds of hurdles to start the league as per the guidelines of Asian Football Confederation (AFC)," he added. The BFF already deferred the start of the league number of times but Sultan believes that the competition will inject new blood in the country's football once it rolls onto the pitch. "I am hopeful about the success of the competition and I believe that the country's football will rise to new heights," he said. He also informed that Sports adviser Tapan Chowdhury will open the B. League at the big bowl. According to fixture archrivals Abahani and Mohammedan will lock horns in the competition on March 24. First Week's Fixtures
March 2: Muktijoddha vs Dhaka Abahani at BNS
March 3: Brothers vs Chittagong Abahani at BNS
March 3: Khulna Abahani vs Rahmatganj at Khulna
March 6: Sheikh Russel vs Chittagong Mohammedan at BNS
March 7: Arambagh vs Dhaka Mohammedanat BNS
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