After a long break, one of the most prestigious events in the domestic hockey arena, the 'First Division Hockey League', is all set to roll onto the ground.

Today (Tuesday), the first meeting of the newly formed First Division League Committee was held in the meeting room of the Bangladesh Hockey Federation. The meeting was presided over by Mr. Harun-ur-Rashid, Deputy Police Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, Motijheel Division and Chairman of the First Division League Committee. Officials of the First Division Hockey League and the Federation and representatives of the 11 participating clubs were present in the meeting.

Although there was reluctance among the clubs to play for various reasons in the past, the clubs responded positively at the first call after the current committee took charge. A financial contribution of Tk 5 lakh was demanded by the clubs. Although it is not possible for the federation to provide such a large amount of money at one time in the current situation, the general secretary of the federation intends to provide a grant of 250,000 taka to each club to bring hockey back to the field. Convinced by this sincere proposal from the federation, all 11 clubs participating in the league have taken the final decision to return to the game.

The meeting unanimously set the date for the league's player transfer on September 6 and 7. The game will start on the field from September 20.

Notable decisions of this year's league:

* Team squad: Each club will be able to register a total of 22 players.

* No foreign players: In order to create adequate opportunities for local players and explore new talents, no foreign players will be able to participate in this year's league. This decision has been taken so that locals do not sit on the side bench because of foreign players.

* BKSP and Army Quota: Each club can field a maximum of 4 players from BKSP and a maximum of 4 players from the three services (Army, Navy and Air Force) in the team.

* Single League: This year's league will be held in a single league format.

All preparations have been completed with the joint efforts of the federation and clubs. The league committee has expressed hope that after a long break, the country's hockey will regain vitality and the ball will roll on the field.