NSC urges federations to recruit Bangladeshi expatriates for national teams

The National Sports Council (NSC) has advised all federations to search for expatriates like Hamza Chowdhury in their respective sports. The arrival of Hamza in Bangladesh football is seen as a very positive development by the NSC. As a result, the organisation has urged all federations and associations to identify talented expatriate players of Bangladeshi descent in their respective sports.

The Secretary of the NSC, Md Aminul Islam, sent a letter to the presidents, general secretaries, or chief executives of all the federations regarding this matter.

The letter mentioned that the government is willing to provide all kinds of support for integrating talented expatriate players into national teams. Hamza made his debut for the Bangladesh national team on March 25 against India.

Before that, after arriving in Sylhet on March 17, Hamza received a warm welcome from the airport to his home in the Snanghat area of Bahubal, Habiganj. His arrival created a new wave of excitement in Bangladeshi football. Among the players showing interest in playing for Bangladesh is Shamit Shome, who hails from Canada.

Shamit, 27, was born in Canada to Bangladeshi parents. He is currently a midfielder for Cavalry FC in the Canadian Premier League. The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has already begun the process of bringing him to play for the national team.

The NSC has stated that if federations work to bring in players like Hamza and Shamit, the sports sector in the country will thrive.

The NSC also views the initiative to grant Bangladeshi citizenship to American-born gymnast Jack Ashikul Islam positively.

The influx of Bangladeshi expatriates into football is not new. The first such footballer to contact the BFF was Jamal Bhuiyan, a Bangladeshi descendant. Jamal, born in Denmark, made his debut for the Bangladesh national team in 2013. Later, Tariq Kazi, born in Finland, also joined the national team.

Apart from football, Bangladeshi expatriate athletes are excelling in boxing, athletics, swimming, and even gymnastics, bringing success to the country. Notable names in this list include England-based Imranur Rahman, US-based Saik Cesar, New Zealand-based gymnast Ali Kadir, London-based swimmer Junaina Ahmed, and US-based boxer Jinat Ferdous.

Imranur won gold at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships. Saik Cesar represented Bangladesh at the 2012 London Olympics. In 2022, Ali Kadir competed in the Islamic Solidarity Games in Turkey on behalf of Bangladesh. Jinat represented Bangladesh at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. Before that, swimmer Junaina represented Bangladesh at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.