India-based Celebrity Management Group, who were supposed to organise the tri-nation friendly matches between Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, postponed the triangular series which was scheduled to be held in England in the first week of June, informed the Bangladesh Football Federation on Tuesday.
The national team’s camp, which was scheduled to begin today has been cancelled by the BFF and the Dutch coaches who were supposed to arrive later this week will not be coming.
Bangladesh were scheduled to play India on June 1 and Pakistan on June 8 while India were scheduled to take on Pakistan on June 4. All of the matches were due to be held at Craven Cottage, home of English Premier League football club Fulham.
The Cottagers had invited fans to buy tickets which were priced at £15 for adults and £10 for anyone below 16.
It was learned that the agreement between the All India Football Federation and CMG, which was expected to be signed on Friday, did not take place as the organisers failed to turn up stating one of his sponsors had backed out due to a financial scam.
‘We had to postpone the event because of reasons beyond our control,’ Bhaswar Goswami, chief executive officer of CMG was quoted as saying by the BFF.
Abu Nayeem Shohag, general secretary of the BFF said that they were notified on Monday night about the postponement of the matches.
‘CMG informed us through a letter on Monday night that due to unavoidable circumstances, they had to postpone the matches. However they are trying to rearrange the series at a convenient time for all three parties as early as August this year,’ said Shohag.
‘We instantly cancelled the booking of the coaches’ air-tickets and also dissolved the training camp. We have also updated about the situation to the three foreign players who were picked for the camp via e-mail,’ he added.
BFF president Kazi Salahuddin declined to make any comments on the issue saying that he will brief about the proceedings today.
The BFF had prepared their season’s itinerary according to this series, moving the Tk one crore Super Cup to November. The ap
pointment of the two Dutch coaches were also scheduled accordingly as they were expected to guide the team during the friendlies and take charge permanently from the first week of July.
But the sudden cancellation of the tri-series has left the BFF in a dilemma. They may have to reschedule the football season as well as re-fix the date of the coaches’ arrival.
National team’s committee chairman Kazi Nabil Ahmed, however, informed that there might not be any scope to re-fix the arrival date of the coaches.
Meanwhile, the national teams committee of the BFF has called for a meeting on May 20 to take a decision regarding these issues.
The Super Cup, which was differed to November due to this series, might be brought forward once again.
It must be noted that back in 2011, the ‘Clash of the Titans, India-Pakistan UK tour’ arranged by Touchsky Sports was organised indefinitely due to a lack of sponsors.
-With New Age input
