The much-talked about Bangabandhu Gold Cup Football Tournament saw some light finally as six teams confirmed their participation, said a top official of the Bangladesh Football Federation on Friday. BFF president Kazi Salahuddin said that Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Bahrain and Laos have agreed to join hosts Bangladesh in the tournament, scheduled to be held later this year.
The BFF had been planning for the tournament for quite some time, but duo to lack of interest from the invitees, it could not make any serious progress in this regards.
With respectable number of countries have now confirmed their participation, Salahuddin said they are now planning to organise the tournament sometime in December or in early January.
‘We are planning to split six teams in two groups and hold the matches of each group in separate venues of Dhaka and Sylhet,’ Salahuddin told the reporters at his office.
The top two teams from each group will move into the semi-finals with Dhaka and Sylhet hosting one semi-final each. The final will be held in Dhaka.
Salahuddin said they have considered Sylhet as the venue for the tournament after it experienced a taste of international football during the recent Bangladesh U-23 and Nepal Under-23 friendly match.
Thousands of football fans gathered at the stadium to watch the match, a rare scene in Bangladesh football these days, which provided the BFF an eye opener.
‘Sylhet proved that they are capable of hosting international matches. We will ensure the foolproof security,’ Salahuddin said.
To organise the 10-day long tournament, BFF has prepared a preliminary budget of Tk 6 crore and they have started negotiating with some of the corporate houses for sponsoring the event.
‘We are confident we can arrange the money. We will also soon meet prime minister to seek her consent,’ he said.
The BFF president said they are also confident of raising necessary fund to host Japan Under-23 team, who have confirmed their arrival for a week-long visit on December 10.
Salahuddin said Bangladesh national squad will play two friendly matches against Japan Under-23 team.
Meanwhile, the preparation camp of the Bangladesh national football team for the two-match FIFA international friendly series against Sri Lanka started at the BKSP on Friday.
All the 28 players except skipper Mamunul Islam and expatriate midfielder Jamal Bhuiyan reported to the assistant coach Saiful Bari Titu, who will conduct the camp in absence of Dutch coach Lodewijk De Kruif and his assistant Rene Koster.
Mamunul is in Kolkata to play Indian Super League for Atletico de Kolkata while Jamal is busy playing in the second division league in Denmark. Footballers belonging to Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club left the camp after reporting as they opted to train with the club.
The Bangladesh League champions Skeikh Jamal started their pre-season training camp from October 9 as they are preparing to play in Bhutan’s Kings Cup.
-With New Age input
