The first ever Bankers’ Championship Trophy 2020 organised by ACE kicked off on Monday through a colourful opening ceremony at a hotel in Dhaka.
Governor of Bangladesh Bank Dr Fazle Kabir formally inaugurated the cricket tournament at the Grand Ballroom of Pan Pacific Sonargaon Dhaka. A total of 16 banks including the central bank are participating in the tournament. The first match of the championship will be held on February 7 at Mirpur City Club Field and will end on March 14.
The participating banks are Standard Chartered, HSBC, BRAC Bank, Mutual Trust Bank, Eastern Bank, Prime Bank, Bank Asia, United Commercial Bank, South Bangla Agriculture and Commerce Bank, The City Bank, NRB Bank, AB Bank, Islami Bank, Dhaka Bank, First Security Islami Bank, and Bangladesh Bank.
Addressing the ceremony, the central bank governor said, “Entertainment has vast importance in the stressful lives of bankers as the lack of it can cease productivity. We thank ACE for organising such an event to help them break out of the tedium by creating a robust bond between banks and sports world. I hope the tournament will be arranged every year and I, myself will be able to participate in it.”
Managing Director and CEO of Eastern Bank Limited Ali Reza Iftekhar, also chairman of Association of Bankers Bangladesh, was the special guest at the event.
He said, “This is a very positive and timely initiative. Besides creating an amiable relationship between bankers and cricketers, this tournament will also avail the bankers to get along with the sports world.”
Ishtiaq Sadek, founder and CEO of ACE, said, “We are very pleased to be able to organise this event for the bankers of the country. Cricketers are the country’s pride; we hope they might take interest in roaming the banking sectors to spend their post retirement time and contribute to the country’s economy. We will keep taking up more such initiatives in future.”