He said these things at a press conference at Chittagong Press Club on Thursday afternoon.

At that time, Minister of Land and Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs Mir Mohammad Helal Uddin, Chittagong City Corporation Mayor Dr. Shahadat Hossain, Member of Parliament from Chittagong-8 constituency Ershad Ullah, and Member of Parliament from Chittagong-9 constituency Abu Sufian were present.

The Education Minister said that the Prime Minister will inaugurate the competition as the chief guest at the Chittagong District Stadium on September 9 or 10. Earlier, the tournament was scheduled to start in the second week of August, but it has been postponed by a month due to adverse weather.

He said that 40,231 educational institutions in the country will participate in this competition. These include 19,211 secondary schools, 1,556 schools and colleges, 3,380 colleges, 9,296 madrasas, and 6,788 technical education institutions. The number of participating students is over 1 crore 60 lakh (16 million).

The Minister further said that the main objectives of this competition are to create skilled footballers at the national level, and to develop leadership, discipline, harmony and team spirit among students. Besides, the government also aims to establish sports as a profession, expand sports economy, create a sports-friendly environment in educational institutions, launch talent hunt programs, ensure joyful education, and increase safety and facilities for female athletes.

He informed that starting from the upazila and thana levels, the champion teams will compete at the national level. A total of 32 teams from eight regions will participate at the national level in four categories: boys and girls at secondary and higher secondary levels. Four teams will be national champions in the four categories.

The Minister said that the competition will conclude with the final and closing ceremony in Dhaka in the last week of October.