Nurunnabi Chowdhury ( bn, নুরুন্নবী চৌধুরী; 1934 – January 2003), better known as Nabi Chowdhury, was a former

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( bn, বাংলাদেশী ) are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centered on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay. Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and the first

East Pakistani East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wit ...

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

to captain the

Pakistan national football team The Pakistan national football team represents Pakistan association football in FIFA-authorized events and is controlled by the Pakistan Football Federation, the governing body for football in Pakistan. Pakistan became a member of FIFA in 19 ...

Early life

Nabi Chowdhury was born in Aziz Fazilpur village in the Feni sub-division of Noakhali District, Bengal.

Club career

Nabi served in the Pakistan Air Force and represented Pakistan Air Force FC from 1952 to 1953 while simultaneously playing in the Cumilla Football League with Pak United. In the National Football Championship, he played for East Pakistan from 1957 to 1960, winning the title in his final year, after which he began representing

Chittagong Division Chittagong Division, officially known as Chattogram Division, is geographically the largest of the eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh. It covers the south-easternmost areas of the country, with a total area of and a population at the 2 ...

. He earned recognition while playing for Dhaka Wanderers from 1954 to 1956, winning a hat-trick of league titles during his tenure there. In 1958, he represented Mohammedan SC in the IFA Shield in Calcutta, India. In 1959, he left his duties at the Air Force and joined the

East Pakistan Police The Bangladesh Police ( bn, বাংলাদেশ পুলিশ) of the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a law enforcement agency, operating under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It plays a crucial role in maintaining peace, and enforcement ...

, representing its football team until his retirement in 1968.

International career

Pakistan and Malaya national football teams for the 1958 Asian Games pictured with Malayan Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman

Nabi made his debut for the Pakistan national team during the 1954 Manila Asian Games. He later participated in both the

1954 Colombo Cup 1954 Colombo Cup was the third edition of the Colombo Cup held in Calcutta, India. India won the tournament for a third time. Squads Points Tables (C) refers to Champions Matches All the results are based on data from ---- ---- ---- ...

and

1955 Colombo Cup The 1955 Colombo Cup was the last edition of the Colombo Cup to take place. It was held in Dacca, East Pakistan and won by India for a record 4th time. Points Table (C) refers to champions Matches All the results are based on data from --- ...

, with the latter held on home soil, in

Dacca Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...

, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). In 1956, he represented Pakistan during a series of friendlies against Singapore,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. Nabi captained Pakistan at the 1958 Tokyo Asian Games, the first Bengali to do so. The team, including six Bengali players, tied the first game 1–1 with

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

and lost its final game 1–3 to the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

. Prior to the tournament, he captained the team during exhibition matches against the likes of

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

and Singapore.

Organizing career

Nabi served as the chairman of the

Bangladesh Football Federation Bangladesh Football Federation (, ''Bānlādēśa phuṭabala phēḍārēśana'') is the governing body that administrates the sport of association football in Bangladesh. It is in charge of running the country's men's and women's national tea ...

(BFF) national team selection committee from 1973 to 1974 and as the general secretary in 1979. He was a member for four terms, specifically in 1975, 1977, 1982, and 1992–1993. Nabi played an integral role in selecting the first

Bangladesh national football team The Bangladesh national football team ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জাতীয় ফুটবল দল) is the national recognised football team of Bangladesh and is controlled by the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF). It is a membe ...

alongside

Sheikh Shaheb Ali Sheikh Shaheb Ali ( bn, শেখ সাহেব আলী; 1 July 1917 – 1 June 2004) was a former Bangladeshi football player and manager. He is the only East Pakistani to have both played for and managed the Pakistan national football team. ...

Manzur Hasan Mintu Manzur Hasan Mintu (died 18 November 2014) was a Bangladeshi footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He worked for radio and television as a sports commentator for 40 years since the 1970s. He was awarded National Sports Award for football and bad ...

, and Ranjit Das for the 1973 Merdeka Cup. He served as the team manager of the Bangladesh U20 team under Werner Bickelhaupt at the

1978 AFC Youth Championship The 1978 AFC Youth Championship was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 5 October to 28 October 1978. It also served as qualification for the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship. Teams * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Group Stage Group A ...

in Dhaka.

Death

Nabi died of diabetes-related complications in January 2004.

Honours

Dhaka Wanderers * Dhaka League: 1954, 1955, 1956 *Pakistan Day Football Tournament: 1955 *Independence Day Cup: 1956 East Pakistan White * National Championship runner-up: 1957 East Pakistan * National Championship: 1960; runner-up: 1959 Pakistan * Colombo Cup runner-up:

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

Individual *1978 − National Sports Awards.

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Nabi Chowdhury
at SonaliOtitClub.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Chowdhury, Nabi 1934 births 2003 deaths Diabetes-related deaths People from Feni District Sportspeople from Chittagong Division Bangladeshi men's footballers Men's association football defenders Pakistani men's footballers Pakistan men's international footballers Pakistan Air Force FC players Dhaka Wanderers Club players Mohammedan SC (Dhaka) players Bangladesh Police FC players Asian Games competitors for Pakistan Footballers at the 1954 Asian Games Footballers at the 1958 Asian Games Recipients of the Bangladesh National Sports Award Bangladeshi football administrators