United News of Bangladesh

Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) will observe the Olympic Day, the founding anniversary of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)  through a ceremonial rally in the capital and seven other divisional headquarters of the country on Tuesday (June 24). The main motive of this year's Olympic Day is "Let's Move" for healthy lifestyle with walking, sports and physical exercises after managing time from the day's busy schedule. BOA President and Chief of Bangladesh Army General Waker-Uz- Zaman will be the chief guest to distribute the certificated among the participants at the function, sponsored by Square Food and Beverage Limited and Sheltech (Private) Limited, apart from IOC The Olympic Day observed all over the world through a ceremonial run on June 23, but this time Bangladesh will observe the Olympic day on the following day (June 24). The Olympic Day run in the capital will start at 6:30 am from Bangladesh Shisu Academy and concluded at the National Stadium in Dhaka after passing through Shikka Bhaban, Bangladesh Secretariet, Zero point and GPO areas. Some 2000 sportsmen, sports organizers, coaches, trainers, officials sports ministry, National Sports Council (NSC) civil and military organizations are expected to participate in the rally. After the rally, Bangladesh Army Orchestra team will present a cultural show at the National Stadium in Dhaka.

France’s top financial watchdog has provided the first official estimate of public spending linked to the 2024 Paris Olympics, placing the overall figure at nearly six billion euros ($6.8 billion). In a preliminary report released Monday, the Cour des Comptes (Court of Auditors) outlined that €2.77 billion has been allocated for organizing the Games, while €3.19 billion has gone toward infrastructure investments. Olympic Day to be observed in capital, divisional HQs on Tuesday However, Paris 2024 organizers have disputed these numbers, arguing in their response to the report that the methodology used is misleading. They pointed out that some of the expenditures included were made prior to the event and will continue to benefit the country long after, meaning they should not be solely attributed to the Olympics. They also criticized the inclusion of long-standing infrastructure projects in the Games’ financial assessment, calling it unjustified. “The Court has avoided addressing the only question that truly matters for public debate: how much public spending would have been avoided if the Games were not held in Paris?” said Tony Estanguet, former head of the Paris 2024 organizing committee. He further argued that the actual amount of public money exclusively tied to the Games is far lower than the six billion euros cited by the Court, estimating it at no more than €2 billion. Estanguet also highlighted that the expected economic benefits from the Games are projected to be three to five times higher than that figure. Italy's Olympic committee urges to halt sports events for Pope Francis’ funeral The Cour des Comptes clarified that its findings are based on available data as of March 31, 2025, and do not represent final conclusions. The report does not assess the economic impact, potential tax revenues, or tax breaks related to the event due to a lack of available information. In its statement, the Court expressed dissatisfaction with tax authorities for not providing an overall estimate of tax-related expenditures and urged the government to conduct such an evaluation without delay.

Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) will observed the Olympic Day through a ceremonial rally in the capital and seven others divisional headquarters of the country on Tuesday (June 24) on the occasion of the founding anniversary of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Olympic Day observed all over the world through a ceremonial run on June 23, but this time Bangladesh will observe the Olympic day on the following day (June 24). The Olympic Day run in the capital will start at 6:30 am from Bangladesh Shisu Academy and concluded at the National Stadium in Dhaka after passing through Shikka Bhaban, Bangladesh Secretariet, Zero point and GPO areas. Asia Cup Archery: Bangladeshi archer Alif win recurve men's singles gold medal BOA President and Chief of Bangladesh Army General Waker-Uz- Zaman will be the chief guest on the occasion, sponsored by Square Food and Beverage Limited and Sheltech (Private) Limited, apart from IOC . Some 2000 sportsmen, sports organizers, coaches, trainers, officials sports ministry, National Sports Council (NSC) civil and military organizations are expected to participate in the rally. After the rally, Bangladesh Army Orchestra team will present a cultural show at the Stadium.

Bangladeshi Archer Abdur Rahman Alif win the gold medal in the recurve men’s singles of the 2025 Asia Cup World Ranking Tournament, Stage-2 beating Japanese rivals Miyata Gakuto by 6-4 sets in the event’s final in Singapore on Friday (June 20). The 19 years old Alif is the second Bangladeshi archer to win an Asian level archery gold medal for Bangladesh after the country celebrated archer Roman Shana, who clinched the country's first archery gold medal in the Asia Cup Archery, Stage 3  in 2019. Asia Cup Archery: Alif will battle for recurve men’s singles gold medal on Friday On way to the recurve men’s singles final, Alif eliminated his Chinese rival Aline by 6-2 sets, beat Busthamin Muhammad Syafiq of Malaysia by 6-4 sets, defeated Liu Tai Yen of Chinese Taipei by 7-3 sets and eliminated Chen Pa-An also of Chinese Taipei by 7-3 sets in the semifinal. Bangladesh team completed their Asia Cup Archery assignment and will return home on Saturday (tomorrow) at 6:05pm by a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight.

Bangladeshi Archer Abdur Rahman Alif will battle for the prestigious recurve men’s singles gold medal of the 2025 Asia Cup World Ranking Tournament, Stage-2 against Japanese archer in the event’s final in Singapore on Friday. On way to the recurve men’s singles final, Alif eliminated Busthamin Muhammad Syafiq of Malaysia by 6-4 sets, defeated Liu Tai Yen of Chinese Taipei by 7-3 sets and eliminated Chen Pa-An also of Chinese Taipei by 7-3 sets in the semifinal. Another Bangladesh archer Himu Bachar will play bronze medal deciding match of the compound men’s singles against Sachin of India also on Friday. Bangladesh finish 4th in two team events at Asia Cup Archery in Singapore In the compound men’s singles, Himu reached the semifinal beating Thirumuru Ganesh Mani Ratnam of India by 145-144 score in the quarterfinal, but he conceded 143-147 score defeat against another Indian Dalal Kushal in the semifinal

Bangladesh secured fourth place in both the recurve men’s team and compound women’s team events at the 2025 Asia Cup World Ranking Archery Tournament (Stage-2) held in Singapore on Wednesday. In the recurve men’s team event, the Bangladesh trio of Abdur Rahman Alif, Ram Krisna Saha and Mohammad Rakib Miah narrowly missed out on a podium finish after a 3-5 defeat to Chinese Taipei in the bronze medal match. Earlier in the competition, the Bangladeshi recurve team displayed strong performances, blanking the Philippines 6-0 in the round of 16 before edging past Kazakhstan in a tense tiebreaker, winning 27-26 to reach the semifinals. However, they fell short against India, losing 1-5 in the semifinal clash. Meanwhile, in the compound women’s team event, the Bangladeshi side comprising Puspita Zaman, Bonnya Akter and Kulsum Akter Moni also settled for fourth place, going down 224-230 to Kazakhstan in the bronze medal decider. Asia Cup Archery: Bangladeshi archer Abdur Rahman Alif enters gold medal race, Himu Bachar battle for bronze medal They reached the last four by defeating Hong Kong China 230-221 and then outclassing Indonesia 230-225 in the quarterfinal and semifinal, respectively. But they narrowly lost to Malaysia 221-224 in the semis, ending their hopes of a medal. In the compound men’s team event, the Bangladeshi trio of Himu Bachar, Newas Ahmed Rakib and Sohel Rana were eliminated in the quarterfinals after a 218-222 defeat to Bhutan. Bangladesh will continue their campaign on Thursday, participating in the recurve mixed team and compound mixed team events. A total of 204 archers — 105 men and 99 women — from 20 Asian countries are competing in the tournament.

Bangladeshi archer Abdur Rahman Alif entered the gold medal race of the recurve men’s singles while Himu Bachar battle for the bronze medal of the compound men’s singles in the 2025 Asia Cup World Ranking Tournament, Stage-2 held in Singapore on Tuesday. In the recurve men’s singles gold medal match, Abdur Rahman will play a Japanese archer on June 20. In the day’s event’s elimination round, Abdur Rahman reached the recurve men’s singles final beating Chen Pa-An of Chinese Taipei by 7-3 sets in the semifinal  Earlier, he eliminated Busthamin Muhammad Syafiq of Malaysia by 6-4 sets in the round of 8 and defeated Liu Tai Yen of Chinese Taipei also by 7-3 sets in the quarterfinal. In the compound men’s singles, Himu Bachjar reached the semifinal beating Thirumuru Ganesh Mani Ratnam of India by 145-144 score in the quarterfinal, but he conceded 143-147 score defeat against another Indian Dalal Kushal in the semifinal. 20 nations urge Israel-Iran de-escalation Himu Bachar will play the bronze medal match against Indian rival C Sachin, also on June 20. In the compound women’s singles, Bangladesh archer Puspita Zaman eliminated from the event losing to Indian archer Thokal Tanishka Nilkumar by 134-146 score in the round of 8. The elimination round of the team event will be held on Wednesday from 9 am.

A 14-member Bangladesh Archer team left Dhaka for Singapore on Saturday to compete in the 2025 Asia Cup World Ranking Tournament, Stage-2 beginning there on Monday (June 16) through qualifying round. The official practice session of the participating teams, team managers meeting and team’s equipment inspection will be held on Sunday. A 14-member Bangladesh team comprises 11 archers and three officials. Members of Bangladesh Archery team : Recurve Men’s Archer- Abdur Rahman Alif, Ramkrishna Saha, Rakib Mia and Mohammad Sagor Islam, Recurve Women’s Archer – Monira Akter. Tigers to fly for Sri Lanka on Friday with eye on World Test Championship place Compound Men’s Archer-Himu Bachar , Newas Ahmed Rakib and Sohel Rana. Recurve Women’s Archers- Bonnya Akhter, Puspita Zaman and Mst. Kulsum Akhter Moni. Three officials are: Team Manager-Martin Frederick, Trainer: Mohammad Hasan and Rina Chakma.  

Former French Open champions Justine Henin and Andre Agassi will present the women's and men's singles trophies at Roland-Garros, organizers said Saturday. Henin won the clay-court Grand Slam four times. Agassi lifted the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy in 1999. He was also twice runner-up in Paris. Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka takes on No. 2 Coco Gauff later Saturday in the women's final, with the winner receiving the trophy from Henin. Top-ranked Jannik Sinner will be up against defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the men's final on Sunday.

The proposed budget for the Ministry of Youth and Sports for the fiscal year 2025-26 has been allocated at Tk 2423 crore, Tk 842.32 crore more than last year's revised budget. Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed presented the budget Monday afternoon. Of the total budget Tk 2423 crore, operating cost will be Tk 983 crore and development expenditure will be Tk 1440 crore. The revised budget for the last 2024-25 fiscal year was 1581 crore--953 crore for operating expenditure  and Tk  628 crore for the development expenditure. The main sports program for the  fiscal year 2025-26  featured organising and participating in sports at national and international level as well as rendering national sports award, hunting sports talents, creating sports environment in rural areas, preparing skill sports persons, construction, improvement and maintenance of sports infrastructure, providing grants in aid to various sports organisations and providing welfare grants-in aid to insolvent sports persons.