A colourful “Captains’ Meet and Greet” was held on Saturday night at the ABG chairman’s residence in Bashundhara Residential Area ahead of the tournament’s formal launch.
The inaugural edition of the competition will feature separate cricket and football tournaments, with matches played under floodlights at ABG Sports City. The event is scheduled to begin on October 25, bringing together teams from 10 leading private universities in Bangladesh.
The initiative aims to provide university athletes with a platform to showcase their talents while contributing to the development of sports in the country. Organisers see the tournament as part of broader efforts, under the leadership and patronage of Sayem Sobhan Anvir, to improve sports infrastructure and create an international-standard sporting environment for young athletes.
From Bashundhara Kings’ international achievements to the development of modern facilities at ABG Sports City, the group has pursued initiatives to expand sporting opportunities in Bangladesh. The university cup is expected to extend those efforts to the university level.
The 10 participating universities are American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB), North South University, BRAC University, Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB), University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB), Sonargaon University, United International University (UIU), Fareast International University, University of Scholars and Daffodil International University.
Among those attending the captains’ meet and greet were ABG Sports City Director Imrul Hasan, Adviser Bidyut Kumar Bhowmik, T Sports Executive Director Tasvir Ul Islam, Operations Manager Salman Hasan and Ikram Hossain Rafi. Captains of the 20 cricket and football teams, along with students, also took part in the event.
To encourage competitive sports and professional-level participation, the organisers have announced prize money of Tk 1 million for the champions and Tk 500,000 for the runners-up. The prize pool is expected to add to the excitement among university students and encourage teams to compete at a high level.
The tournament is also expected to help identify emerging talent and create opportunities for young athletes to progress towards national-level competition.
Captains attending the event said the opportunity to demonstrate their skills in a professional sporting environment was a source of pride. They expressed hope that initiatives such as the ABG University Cup, under the leadership of Sayem Sobhan Anvir, would strengthen university sports culture and contribute to the development of future sporting talent in Bangladesh.
