Bangladesh Football Federation general secretary Abu Nayeem Sohag left Dhaka for the United Kingdom on Thursday to collect the forthcoming FIFA World Cup tickets allotted for the Bangladeshi citizens. The BFF, who received the tickets through courier service in the past, sent its general secretary following a directive from FIFA, according to the official. ‘We were told by FIFA that some member countries did not receive tickets timely in 2010, so it’s better we collect the tickets personally,’ Sohag told New Age prior to his departure.
More than 600 football fans applied for 228 World Cup tickets available for the Bangladeshi.
Officials said a large number of tickets were allotted for the BFF members before they made these available for the common people.
Only four tickets for the July 13 final were allotted to the Bangladeshis and they were shared by BFF president Kazi Salahuddin and senior vice-president Abdus Salam Murshedi.
The BFF also added 10 per cent service charge to the original price of World Cup tickets to meet the travel expenses of its general secretary. The service charge, however, is not applicable to the BFF people, who bought around 90 tickets, more than one-third of the total allocation.
The BFF had earlier formed a six-member committee to ensure the tickets go to the right people as there were certain allegations of human trafficking through the World Cup tickets in the past.
-With New Age input
