PM hands over awards to 10 sportspersons, 2 organisations

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina distributed Sheikh Kamal National Sports Council Award 2023 to 10 sports personalities and two organisations as chief guest of the award giving ceremony held at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in Dhaka on Saturday.

The award was given in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the field of sports.

The award programme was held on the same day when the nation was celebrating the 74thbirth anniversary of Sheikh Kamal, the eldest son of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Kamal was a ardent patron of local sports and sportspersons.

The award was introduced in 2021 on the occasion of the 72nd birth anniversary of Sheikh Kamal.

Legendary hockey player and first captain of Bangladesh national hockey team Abdus Sadek has been honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Women's football team captain Sabina Khatun, cricketer Taskin Ahmed and South Asian gold medallist weightlifter Ziarul Islam received the award in the athlete category.

Table tennis player Muhtasim Ahmed Hridoy and hockey player Amirul Islam received the Emerging Sportsman Award.

Meanwhile, grassroots hockey organiser Fazlul Islam and the Principal of Kalsindur Govt School and College Mala Rani Sarkar were awarded in the sports organiser category. Khandaker Tareque Md Nurullah received the Sports Journalist Award. Bangladesh Archery Federation received the Sports Association/Federation/Organiser Award and the Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB) Sports Sponsor Award.

For the first time, the Ministry of Youth and Sports has included the sports commentator category in the Sheikh Kamal NSC Awards. Former national team cricketer and commentator Athar Ali Khan received the sports commentator award in this category.

  Each of the awardees received Tk 100,000 as cash prize along with a crest and certificate.

At the beginning of the programme, an audio-visual exhibition on the life and works of freedom fighter Sheikh Kamal was projected.