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Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that her younger brother Shaheed Sheikh Kamal was a keen lover of sports and was one of the pioneers of promoting sports in the country in the early seventies.

The Prime Minister was speaking to a big audience before laying the foundation of Sheikh Kamal Krira Complex, a multi-purpose project with modern sports facilities, at the Abahani club premises yesterday evening. The proposed complex will be built at the ground adjacent to Abahani club.

The programme was arranged also to mark the 50th birth anniversary of Sheikh Kamal, the founder of the popular Dhanmondi-based club.

Chaired by Abahani Limited Chairman Salman F Rahman, other distinguished guests present on the occasion were Sheikh Rehana, the elder sister of the Premier and a founder member of Abahani, cabinet members and club directors.

Sheikh Hasina said that Bangladesh would have been a well established country in the international sports arena had her brother not been killed in 1975.

``He was a unique person who had a very special corner in his heart for sports. He had a dream of making Abahani a complete sports house. Today, we are here to make his dream come true. His soul will be happy if we can make this complex a complete success,'' said the Prime Minister.

``The Dhanmondi residential area had no sporting facilities in the sixties. Kamal was the man who first took the step of establishing a club here. Although, he is no longer with us, his club will remain for ever. The Sheikh Kamal Krira Complex will be the breeding ground for the emerging talents in future.

``In the past, Abahani have regularly faced the wrath of governments. But Abahani has survived. I'm glad that my brother's vision is going to see the light today. I wish that the modern facilities in the complex will help grooming of youngsters in different disciplines of sports.

``Many people have been trying to spread scandalous stories about my brother in the past. I can say that he was never hungry for wealth and wasn't ambitious. He had not left any property in the earth. His only creation was Abahani which is still there,'' added the Prime Minister.

She also stressed that the present government is paying extra attention to the sports arena in order to bring back misguided youths to the correct path.

``Last year we had a budget of Taka 52.45 crore for sports. The amount is now 72.25 crore for the current fiscal year. Besides, we have also provided extra funds for cricket and football in the last couple of years. This effort will continue.''

Earlier, the function began with a group dance by school children donning Abahani's famous sky-blue. The dance was composed in memory of Sheikh Kamal. Afterwards, Lt Col (retired) Kazi Shahed Ahmed, the director in charge of Abahani, read out the key note paper while club director Harunur Rashid MP, the founder general secretary of Abahani, recalled the memory of Sheikh Kamal.

Sheikh Rehana urged the people to keep up their support for Abahani and make it the biggest sporting house of the nation.

In his speech of thanks, Salman F Rahman said that the sports complex was a long time dream of Sheikh Kamal and he was happy to begin the work at last.

The Prime Minister awarded the Sheikh Kamal Sports Award 1999 to five personalities.They are national football captain Jewel Rana, former national cricket captain Minhazul Abedin and former national hockey skipper Mahboob Harun.Abahani directors--Saber Hossain Chowdhury and Kazi Shahed Ahmed also got the award as sponsor and organizer of the year.