Schools must form football teams or face MPO suspension: State Minister

Educational institutions that fail to form football teams for the Prime Minister's Gold Cup national football competition will face suspension of their MPO (Monthly Pay-Order) facilities, said State Minister for Local Government Mir Shahe Alam.

He made the remarks after a meeting of the steering committee for the Prime Minister's Gold Cup national football competition at the Education Ministry conference room on Monday (August 3), chaired by Education Minister Dr A N M Ehsanul Haque Milon .

The state minister said all educational institutions across the country have been urged to form football teams mandatorily to ensure the competition's success. If an institution fails to form a team, the reasons will be investigated. If necessary, the institution's MPO may be suspended .

He said regular sports activities would eliminate the need to separately scout talent, as skilled players would emerge from the field. Therefore, all schools, colleges, madrasas and technical institutions must ensure team formation .

Mir Shahe Alam further said if an educational institution cannot form even a team of 11 or 15 players, it raises questions about whether there is a student shortage there that needs to be investigated .

The meeting also decided to organise the competition on a wider scale. Instead of a single venue at the upazila level, plans have been made to hold matches simultaneously at four to five fields, enabling more educational institutions to participate and creating a football festival atmosphere across the country .

The meeting was attended by Disaster Management and Relief Minister Asadul Habib Dulu, Information and Broadcasting Minister Zahir Uddin Swapan, Youth and Sports State Minister Md Aminul Haque, Textiles and Jute State Minister Md Shariful Alam, Prime Minister's Adviser Mahdi Amin, and senior officials from relevant ministries and departments.