Bangladesh have been drawn in group A along with defending champions Palestine and Sri Lanka in the six-team Bangabandhu Gold Cup International Football tournament scheduled to begin on January 15 at Bangabandhu National Stadium.
The draw ceremony for the tournament was held at a local city hotel on Saturday when another higher-ranking team Burundi have been pitted in Group B along with Mauritius and Seychelles.
Palestine is the highest ranked (106) side in the tournament, followed by Burundi (151), Mauritius (172), Bangladesh (187), Seychelles (200) and Sri Lanka (205).
Finance Minister AHM Mostafa Kamal was the chief guest in the draw ceremony, which also featured a cultural show.
The Finance Minister said, “The Father of the Nation is an inspiration for us in all good works … he is immortal and we’ll cherish him through our good works.”
State Minister for Youth and Sports Zahid Ahsan Russell, MP, who was present in the draw ceremony, said the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has been hosting the Bangabandhu Gold Cup successfully and he hoped that there would be no exception to it.
The State Minister said they have taken initiative to organize hundred sports programmes in celebration of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s 100th birth anniversary this year and hoped to finish those successfully.
BFF president Kazi Mohammad Salahuddin said they feel very proud to host the tournament this year as it marks the birth centenary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in November last year.
The BFF boss also revealed that they have a plan to host the tournament in the name of Bangabandhu one more time this year.
Chief coordinator of the national implementation committee for celebration of Bangabandhu’s birth centenary Dr. Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, former mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation Atiqul Islam, tournament’s rights holders K-sports’ CEO Fahad Karim, among others, were present at the colorful draw ceremony.
