The Bangabandhu National Stadium has been renamed as National Stadium, Dhaka on Saturday, a directive from the National Sports Council (NSC), signed by NSC secretary Aminul Islam, confirmed.

Built in 1954 in Paltan as Dhaka Stadium, Bangladesh's premier sporting venue hosted some major international sporting events through the years.

Owned and maintained by the NSC, the infrastructure was renamed from Dhaka Stadium to Bangabandhu National Stadium in 1996 after Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League first came to power. 

This is the latest move in renaming sporting infrastructure across the country in recent times as 150 mini stadiums in 150 upazilas, originally named as Sheikh Russel Mini Stadiums, were renamed after the respective upazilas on last Wednesday.

The NSC had, in November last year, renamed Tangail District Stadium as Shaheed Maruf Stadium and Kushtia District Stadium as Shaheed Abrar Fahad Stadium. It also named the premises in front of the National Parliament as Shaheed Shaheed Farhan Faiyaz Playground.