Sagorika’s brilliant hat-trick saw defending champions Bangladesh get off to a flying start in the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) U-20 Women’s Championship 2025 today, Friday. Bangladesh women thrashed Sri Lanka by 9-1 goals in their first match of four-nation tournament held at the Bashundhara Kings Arena in Dhaka.

From the very outset, Bangladesh looked very sharp, hungry and in complete control of the match. Dominating possession and dictating the tempo, they pegged Sri Lanka deep into their own half with a series of attacks.

Apart from Sagorika’s hat-trick with three goals in the 37, 53 and 58 minutes, Munni Akhter struck twice in the fifth and 48 minutes while Sapna Rani, Sinha Jahan Sikha, Rupa Akter and Shanti Mardi supported them with lone goals in the second, 50, 86 and 90+4 minutes respectively for Bangladesh in the one-sided affairs. Layansika Jasotharan scored a consolation goal for Sri Lanka in the 90+2 minute of the match.

Bangladesh will play their next match against Nepal while Sri Lanka will meet Bhutan Sunday at the same venue. Four South Asian nations- Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and host Bangladesh- are taking part in the 11-day meet on round robin league basis.Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) is organising the SAFF U-20 Women’s Championship 2025.

Bangladesh’s inability to go big after promising starts once again came under scrutiny following their seven-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka in their first T20I in Pallekele on Thursday. Despite a solid start, the Tigers stumbled in the middle overs and ended with a below-par 154 for five, a total Sri Lanka chased down with ease and an over to spare.

Bangladesh played an eleven with four openers at the top, two of whom, Mohammad Naim (32) and Parvez Hossain Emon (38), scored 30-plus knocks, while Mehidy Hasan Miraz scored 29, but none could reach the fifty-mark. However, for the hosts, Kusal Mendis struck a half-century (73 off 42) and Pathum Nissanka played a rapid 42 off 16 balls, which exposed the Tigers’ poor batting approach. Spin bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed believes the batters’ failure to turn 30s and 40s into bigger scores was a decisive factor in the match.

‘When a batsman is in form and gets 30s or 40s, the next challenge is to convert those into 70s and 80s,’ Mushtaq told reporters after the game.

He pointed to Sri Lanka’s Kusal as a model of consistency. ‘That’s what Kusal did — he consistently made those big scores, and that’s why he troubled our bowling attack. For us, one of our batsmen needs to do the same,’ While Bangladesh showed gleams of aggression — including a reverse-sweep six by Shamim Hossain — Mushtaq said execution in crucial moments was missing.

‘Shamim showed positive intent with that reverse-sweep six right after coming in. But to post winning totals on challenging pitches, you need to bat long and convert those starts into bigger scores.’

Openers Emon and Tanzid Hasan Tamim were once again among the runs but failed to push on to play a match-defining knock. Bangladesh scored 54 runs during the first powerplay but found themselves at 116-4 after 16 overs, eventually ended up with a total that Mushtaq had identified as a below-par score on the surface.

‘Good partnerships and the ability to bat longer will take us a long way,’ Mushtaq said, noting that building innings and batting deep remain key goals for the side.

Mehidy and Naim added 61 runs off 52 balls in a steady stand, but the slow batting left questions about intent with power-hitting ability. Skipper Liton Das was the only batter unable to reach double figures, dismissed lbw after scoring six. He also called for the batting unit to improve.

‘We didn’t get many runs. It’s not just today’s game, last 7-8 matches, I think the batters who are in have to take responsibility,’ Liton said in the post-match presentation.

Bangladesh will play the second T20I against Sri Lanka at the Dambulla International Stadium on Sunday.

Chelsea must somehow try to stop an irresistible Paris Saint-Germain side from adding the Club World Cup trophy to their UEFA Champions League title as the final of the first edition of FIFA’s expanded competition takes place on Sunday. PSG travelled to the United States fresh from becoming European champions with a stunning 5-0 demolition of Inter Milan in Munich in late May, and they have lived up to their favourites tag at the Club World Cup.

Luis Enrique’s side put four goals past Atletico Madrid in the group stage, four more past Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami in the last 16, and then proved too strong for Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals.They appeared to hit new heights as they tore apart Kylian Mbappe’s Real Madrid in the last four, when their 4-0 winning margin could have been far greater.

The Parisians now stand on the verge of an extraordinary achievement, as they look to complete a clean sweep of trophies in this marathon 2024/25 season and add the world title to their French and European crowns.

‘That is the objective we have had since the beginning but it is always very difficult to achieve these things — very few teams can do what we are trying to do,’ said Luis Enrique after the semi-final.

PSG are therefore overwhelming favourites for the game which will be played at the 82,500-capacity MetLife Stadium in New Jersey — with the Manhattan skyline as a backdrop — and which is set to be attended by Donald Trump.

However Desire Doue, one of their standout performers during a remarkable campaign, insisted there were no concerns about complacency.

‘We are not over-confident, not at all,’ France international Doue told reporters before PSG trained at Rutgers University, south of New York City, on Friday.

‘We have been favourites for most matches in this competition and throughout this season, but what matters is what we do on the pitch.’

Chelsea have plenty of reason to believe too, with Sunday’s game finally wrapping up a campaign in which they won the UEFA Conference League and also finished fourth in the Premier League to qualify for the Champions League.

While PSG lost to Botafogo during the group stage, Chelsea were also beaten by Brazilian opposition in Flamengo.

However, they have gone on to defeat Benfica as well as two other Brazilian teams, Palmeiras and Fluminense, to reach the final.

‘If everyone thinks we are going to lose, then we have nothing to lose. We have to go out there and play our football, be confident and hopefully try to surprise everyone,’ defender Levi Colwill said on Friday.

PSG’s record against English opposition in 2025 shows the size of task facing Chelsea — the French club faced four Premier League teams in the Champions League and beat them all, from Manchester City and Liverpool, to Aston Villa and then Arsenal.

‘It is a super high-level game. They are one of the hottest teams in the world at the moment but this is the final, a one-off game,’ said Reece James.

‘Everyone has them down as strong favourites but I have been in many finals before where we have been favourites and we have not come out on top.

‘I don’t really care that everyone is bigging up the opposition. We are just preparing in the right way and we are going out to win.’

The match brings down the curtain on a month-long competition that FIFA is already hailing as a huge success.

But concerns over the heat of an American summer have plagued the tournament, with Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez saying Friday that playing in the middle of the afternoon was ‘very dangerous’

Whatever happens in the final, the tournament has already been a huge success for the participants from a financial viewpoint.

Chelsea and PSG are assured to go home with over $100 million in prize money, with the definitive amount to become clear after the final — that money will be particularly welcome for Chelsea after they were recently fined by UEFA for breaching financial rules.

The second-round negotiation between Bangladesh and United States over tariff issue ended on Friday at about 4:00pm in the US capital Washington DC keeping several issues unresolved. Washington wanted Dhaka to keep distance with companies under the sanctioned-hit list from the US while Dhaka sought necessary time to meet the US demands, said an official who attended the meeting.

Both the parties agreed to carry on negotiation to solve the unresolved issues, added the official. The second-round negotiation was convened following the US president Donald Trump’s announcement of imposition of 35 per cent tariff on Bangladeshi export goods from August 1.

Saima Wazed Putul, the World Health Organisation’s regional director for South-East Asia, has been placed on indefinite leave, four months after the Anti-Corruption Commission of Bangladesh filed two cases against her on charges of fraud, forgery and misuse of power, according to the Health Policy Watch. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the decision in a brief internal email, stating that Wazed would be on leave starting Friday (July 11).

He also said WHO assistant director-general Catharina Boehme would assume responsibility as officer-in-charge of the SEARO office in Wazed’s absence. Boehme is expected to arrive at the SEARO headquarters in New Delhi on Tuesday (July 15).

Saima Wazed, daughter of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina who fled the country last August after protests, took office as regional director in January 2024. The charges against Saima Wazed stem from her bid to be appointed regional director. Her campaign was shadowed by claim that her influential mother used her influence to ensure her daughter’s election.

According to the formal charges, she is alleged to have provided false information about her academic record during her campaign for regional director, violating Section 468 of the Bangladesh Penal Code (forgery for the purpose of cheating) and Section 471 (forging a document).

The ACC also alleged she misrepresented her qualifications by claiming an honorary role at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, which the university disputes, to secure her WHO position. Saima Wazed is also accused of having misused her power and influence to collect about $2.8 million from various banks for the Shuchona Foundation which she used to head.

The ACC case did not provide complete details on how the money was then used. Those charges include: allegations of fraud and misuse of power under Sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), as well as Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act of 1947. Since the charges were laid, Wazed has been unable to travel properly in the SEARO region as she faces arrest in Bangladesh, it said.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party acting chairman Tarique Rahman on Saturday questioned whether the attackers, clearly seen on video fatally assaulting a scrap trader in front of Mitford Hospital, have not yet been arrested due to the silent support or the interim government’s indirect indulgence.

‘In yesterday’s incident, we were very surprised to see clearly on the screen who were killing (the trader), but they have not yet been arrested. Should we assume that those trying to create mob violence and unrest are being secretly supported or pampered by the government or some officials in the administration?’ he said.

Tarique made the remarks while virtually exchanging views with the families of the 142 martyrs of the July mass uprising.

He said both BNP and its affiliated organisations have always demanded justice, no matter who commits the crime. ‘A wrongdoer is a wrongdoer. Justice must be served according to the law. No wrongdoer should have the identity of any political party.’

The BNP leader said people across the country are asking why the government authorities remain silent and why proper legal action is not being taken against those trying to create chaos.

‘Many incidents are happening in different places, and we are watching closely those who are trying to disrupt a peaceful environment,’ he said.

The Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal organised the event at a hotel in the capital to mark the first anniversary of the July-August mass uprising and to honour the memory of the brave martyrs of Chhatra Dal.

It was a deeply emotional occasion as the families of the fallen shared their sorrow and grief. They recalled their loved ones with heavy hearts.

Many also called for justice and demanded that those responsible for the killings be held to account.

Tarique urged the families of the martyrs to raise their voices loudly over the delays in the trials of those responsible for killing their loved ones.

He also warned them to be vigilant against those trying to create mobs to delay justice.

The BNP leader assured that if his party returns to power, it will prioritise ensuring the trials of those who killed innocent people during the mass uprising and democratic movement.

‘All I can say is that if BNP forms the government with the support of the people in the coming days, we will do our utmost to ensure justice for those who lost their lives defending the rights of the people,’ he said.