ABG to Launch First University Cup Featuring Cricket and Football

Anvir Bashundhara Group (ABG) is set to organise cricket and football tournaments together for the first time, aiming to encourage university students to participate in sports and create a more competitive environment in Bangladesh’s sporting arena.

Named the ABG University Cup, the competition will feature teams from 10 private universities across the country. With international-standard sports facilities, corporate sponsorship and plans for live television coverage, the tournament is expected to introduce a new dimension to university-level sports.

Matches will be held this October at two venues in Bashundhara Sports City: Bashundhara Kings Arena and Anvir Cricket Stadium. The opening matches for cricket and football are scheduled for October 25 and 26, respectively.

Ten Universities to Compete
Ten teams will participate in each discipline, representing 10 private universities. The teams will be divided into two groups, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the semifinals. The semifinal winners will compete for the championship titles.

The champions in both cricket and football will receive prize money of Tk 1 million each, while the runners-up in each discipline will receive Tk 500,000. All matches will be played under floodlights.

The inaugural ABG University Cup will conclude with the football final on November 3 and the cricket final on November 13.

Bashundhara Sports City: A Multi-Sport Complex
ABG Sports City has been developed as a comprehensive sports complex offering facilities for a wide range of disciplines, including football, cricket, basketball, boxing, squash, futsal, swimming, padel tennis and badminton. Its infrastructure is designed to accommodate both domestic competitions and international sporting events.

One of the complex’s major attractions is Bashundhara Kings Arena, a football venue recognised by FIFA. The ground regularly hosts domestic and international football competitions and serves as the home venue of Bashundhara Kings Football Club. Its club-centred stadium infrastructure is also considered a notable example in South Asian football.

Adjacent to Kings Arena, Anvir Cricket Stadium has also attracted attention from sports enthusiasts. The venue recently hosted a cricket series between Bangladesh and Malaysia, highlighting its potential for international cricket events.

Encouraging Young People to Participate in Sports
Mohammad Imrul Hasan, director of Bashundhara Sports City, is a prominent figure in Bangladesh’s sports sector. He also serves as president of Bashundhara Kings and senior vice-president of the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF).

Explaining the purpose of the ABG University Cup, Imrul Hasan said Bashundhara Group had consistently worked to develop sports in Bangladesh. He described ABG Sports City as a comprehensive sports complex equipped to host a variety of domestic and international competitions.

He said the primary objectives of the tournament were to encourage young people to take a greater interest in sports and expand opportunities for athletic participation at the university level.

Outlining the future plans, Imrul Hasan said the competition would initially begin with cricket and football, with 10 teams participating in each discipline in the first edition. He added that plans were underway to organise a larger edition in December involving 50 universities, which would significantly expand the tournament’s scale.

New Prospects for University Sports
Sports competitions have long been organised at school, college and university levels in Bangladesh, including regular inter-university tournaments. However, bringing cricket and football together under a corporate-sponsored initiative is expected to give the ABG University Cup a distinctive position in university sports.

International-standard venues, attractive prize money, floodlit matches and planned live television coverage are expected to make the competition more engaging for both participants and spectators.

The initiative could create greater opportunities for students to develop their sporting abilities, build a competitive mindset and participate in regular physical activity. It may also strengthen sports-related engagement and healthy competition among educational institutions.

The ABG University Cup is therefore more than a cricket and football tournament. It represents an effort to make university sports in Bangladesh more organised, engaging and spectator-oriented. If the planned larger edition involving 50 universities takes place in December, the initiative could mark the beginning of a new chapter in university-level sports in the country.