Chittagong Abahani face Bangladesh Police in the inaugural match of the Grameenphone Federation Cup at the Kamalapur stadium at 3:30pm today.
Grameenphone officially entered the Bangladesh football arena declaring itself as the new football partner of Bangladesh Football Federation in the logo unveiling ceremony at the BFF House on Thursday.
BFF president Kazi Salahuddin welcomed the largest cell-phone operator of the country to football field. ‘This is a great moment; we welcome Grameenphone and believe that their involvement will be highly fruitful for the game, we also believe that with our heartiest efforts we will be able to fulfil their requirements,’ said Salahuddin.
Salahuddin was also looking forward to a lasting relationship with the company. ‘For the betterment of the game the BFF definitely hopes that Grameenphone will stay with us to lift the standard of football,’ he said.
Kazi Monirul Kabir, chief communication officer of Grameenphone was in high spirit. ‘Today we are here just for unveiling the logo of the Federation Cup, we are still negotiating the deal. However, we want to say that Grameenphone wants to go for a long-term involvement with Bangladesh football,’ said Kabir.
BFF officials said there were still some clauses to be finalised before both the parties sign the final deal. The amount of sponsorship money was also being negotiated and the BFF officials were hopeful that everything will be sorted out within a few days.
The BFF had signed a three-year deal with Citycell worth Tk 15 crore in 2007 but it was not renewed after two years. The federation was desperately searching for a sponsor for the past few months and finally managed to convince Grameenphone.
