I think our footballers are getting a lot of hate. But I very much doubt that our footballers are highest paid in the region, India and Maldives have more expensive domestic leagues, so I think that they are better paid than Bangladeshi players.
Even our A-team/ U19 cricket players most likely earn a lot more money in comparison to our footballers. During the golden age of football in Bangladesh (80s, 90s), the once popular Dhaka derby match between Abahani and Mohammedan was the most talked about event of the year. The last Dhaka derby in 2015 was attended by less than a 100 people. And all the other league games are played in an empty Bangabandhu stadium, despite being free entry. Our national team has had trouble recently trying to pull in sponsors, let alone our domestic clubs. So where do these clubs exactly get their revenue from?
Heck, BFF can't even afford to pay our national team coaches. There hasn't been a single coach who haven't already complained to FIFA about BFF for not getting their wage.
With the rapid rise of the popularity of cricket, I can only predict that the state of our football team would worsen even further. Every kid in BKSP would want to become cricketers even if they are more talented in football. Our cricket team are likely to win a Cricket World Cup in the next two decades. There is a lot of fame and money in cricket, and nothing but shame and absolute humiliation in football, both on and off the field.
There is no way to save our football team. It is dead and buried. The team has been reduced to a shadow of its former self.
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