DNCC Mayor Cup to begin next month

The DNCC Mayor's Cup organized by Dhaka North City Corporation is about to start for the first time. On the occasion of Mujib's centenary and the silver jubilee of independence, the Mayor's Cup is getting started with the motto 'Keep busy in sports, keep drugs away'.

Mayor of North City Corporation Atiqul Islam announced the official inauguration of the Mayor's Cup at a local hotel in the capital on Monday. A promo was presented at the event. In the promo, former cricketer Mohammad Ashraful, Habibul Bashar, former captain Mashrafe bin Murtaza, ODI captain Tamim Iqbal, national football team captain Jamal Bhuiyan and volleyball player Harshit Biswas are asking the athletes to prepare for the Mayor's Cup.

This year's Mayor Cup will be held in three disciplines - football, cricket and volleyball. Field and court games will start on November 15. The teams of all the 54 wards and reserved women councilors of North City Corporation will take part in this year's event. Any citizen of Dhaka North City Corporation can participate on behalf of their respective ward teams.

The three event teams will be formed under the supervision of 54 councilors and 16 women councilors. Former national cricket team captain Khaled Masood Pilot will be the technical director of the cricket event. Former star footballer Sheikh Mohammad Aslam will be the technical director of football and Fazle Rabbi Babul, the joint general secretary of Bangladesh Volleyball Federation, will be the technical director of the volleyball event.

The sponsor of the Mayor Cup, Saif Powertech Limited's Managing Director Tarafdar Mohammad Ruhul Amin, Chairman of Runner Group Mohammad Hafizur Rahman Khan, Managing Director of Unique Hotels and Resorts Mohammad Noor Ali were present at the press conference held at Hotel Westin in the capital.

Md. Selim Reza, Chief Executive Officer of North City Corporation, said, "Athletes are ambassadors of a country. We believe that through the Mayor's Cup, we will be able to spread excitement in the neighborhood."

Atiqul Islam, Mayor of North City Corporation, said, "We are starting the Mayor's Cup with three events. The Mayor's Cup will be held next year in a bigger way. The discussion that I heard about the Mayor's Cup after the meeting yesterday is the team spirit."

The mayor of the city corporation added, "We all want a beautiful city. But our children are on their phones and laptops. It's not their fault; we couldn't arrange for them to go to the field, it's our failure. We are occupying all the fields and constructing buildings. As a result, our children are not getting a playground. Sports are needed alongside education. So, let us try this. We all are trying to make an arrangement for sports. Because there is no alternative to sports. I will try to do it in a bigger way in the future."

Former captain Khaled Masood Pilot has been appointed technical director of the cricket event. He said in his speech, "Very good initiative. If all the councils work together, it will be possible to organize it successfully. Hopefully, we can all do that successfully together. This time there may be a Mayor's Cup with three events. In the future, it may be possible to find more talent by organizing more events."

Former star footballer Sheikh Mohammad Aslam has been appointed as the technical director of the football event. He said in his speech, "Atiq Bhai was a footballer. Since I am a footballer, I will stay by the side of Atiq Bhai. Councilors have a huge role to play in making the football event a success. I hope they will play a responsible role so that no untoward incident takes place on the field."