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SILIGURI 4 Jul 2016 Former footballer Baichung Bhutia today inaugurated the office of the North Bengal Board for Development of Sports and Games (NBBDSG) at the Kanchenjunga Stadium for the all-round development of games and sports in the region.
“The board will work for the development of sports and games in the seven district of north Bengal. Besides promoting football and other games, the board is working hard to bring IPL cricket league to Siliguri. But as the existing size of the stadium is small, we are planning to develop the infrastructure with the support of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). I have already discussed the matter with CAB president Sourav Ganguly. The names of the board members have not been announced yet; hence work and necessary procedures will start after the formation of the board,” he informed.
When he contested the state Assembly polls as a candidate from Siliguri, Baichung had said his main focus would be to develop sports and games in the region. He had said, “I will change the entire picture of Siliguri within a year and promote sports and games, especially football, by developing a number of training centres.”
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| Bhaichung Bhutia |
The decision to open an office was after an announcement by chief minister Mamata Banerjee during her recent visit in Siliguri. She had announced the names of Baichung as chairman, table tennis player Mantu Ghosh as vice-chairman and GNLF chief Mann Ghisingh as board member. However, Ghosh and Ghisingh were not present at the inaugural function.
On the other news article published on Telegraph, Bhaichung push for cricket – Bhaichung Bhutia, the chairman of North Bengal Board for Development of Sports and Games, today said he would speak to Sourav Ganguly, the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal, on holding IPL matches at the Kanchenjungha Stadium here.
Bhutia, who inaugurated the sports board’s office at the stadium today, also said he would try to bring Indian Super League football matches to the ground.
“I will talk to Sourav Ganguly so that we can get IPL cricket matches at Kanchenjungha stadium. We have a good stadium that can host big cricket and football matches,” said Bhutia.
Sources said the former national soccer team captain had already spoken to the president of the CAB in this regard.
“Ganguly has suggested that the existing infrastructure of the stadium be upgraded as the size of the ground is not big enough to host IPL matches,” said a source.
However, the All India Football Federation has already marked the stadium as one where only soccer matches could be hosted.
