DHAKA, April 28, 2020 (BSS)-Bangladesh ODI captain Tamim Iqbal has reached
out to help 91 struggling sportsperson amid the Covid-19 pandemic that hit
the country hard.
In coordination with a local cricket coach – Mohammad Humayun Kabir – Tamim
has come forward to help the families of those athletes providing with
financial assistance.
“As the pandemic hit our country hard and the people remain vulnerable, we
tried to reach out athletes of different disciplines that includes cricket,
hockey, swimming, football and others,” Humayun said here today.
“The pandemic hit hard all, regardless of the profession and status but
there are some athletes who would never ask for any assistance considering
their social status. However we understand they are living in despair. Tamim
Iqbal tried to find out those families and provided them with financial
assistance,” he added.
Tamim has been trying to aid the people hit by coronavirus pandemic in
different way from the very beginning. He is the mastermind behind the
initiative of providing Tk. 26 lakh –which was collected from the 50 percent
salary of the national contracted players –to the Prime Minister’s fund.
Later in co-ordination with another national player Nazmul Islam Apu, he is
currently providing ifter items to some family and will continue it
throughout the Ramadan.
Earlier this month, Tamim Iqbal helped young sprinter and part-time
footballer Samiul Islam, whose family was struggling for food after he lost
his job at the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation recently.
“I have never seen a fellow sportsman help out athletes from so many
disciplines at once what Tamim Iqbal has been doing,” Mahfuza Khatun Shila, a
Bangladeshi swimmer, said.
Tamim has also contributed to help Dhaka resident Nafisa Anjum Khan, who
supplies essential food to those in need.
All sporting activity in Bangladesh has been postponed indefinitely since
mid-March, with several hundred athletes waiting for the next competition to
commence.