Sports Reporter :
The Federation Cup Football will begin on December 22 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium. Marking the upcoming curtain-raiser football tournament of this year, an agreement was signed between Bangladesh Football Federation and Walton Group at the conference room in the Bangladesh Football Federation House on Tuesday. Besides, a press briefing was also held at the same venue on the same day.
Walton Group is the sponsor of the Federation Cup, which powered by Premier Bank Limited and IFIC Bank Limited will be the co-sponsor of the football meet.
Senior Vice-President of Bangladesh Football Federation and Chairman of the Professional Football League Committee Abdus Salam Murashedy,MP, Member of the Professional Football League Committee Elias Hossain, Senior Executive Director of Walton Group FM Iqbal Bin Anwar Dawn, Deputy-Managing Director of IFIC Bank Limited Shah Md Mainuddin and Deputy-Director of Premier Bank Limited Shamsuddin Chowdhury were present at the programme, among others.
The participating teams of the upcoming Federation Cup Football will get Tk 2 lakh as participation money. The champions will be awarded Tk 5 lakh, while the runners-up will get Tk 3 lakh.
Meanwhile, the participation of Muktijoddha Sangsad Krira Chakra is uncertain due to financial crisis. The Manager of Muktijoddha Sangsad Krira Chakra Ariful Islam said to the newsmen, “As all the clubs are supposed to sign their old squads this season, we had started training with our players but the camp stopped after the management told us that they can’t form squad due to financial crisis.”
According to Ariful, Muktijoddha Sangsad need nearly Tk 1.80 crore for the payment of players including four foreign recruits as well as for running the camp for the duration of the season. He also added that the players will get 50 percent of last season’s contract money which is worth Tk 1.20 crore.
Abdus Salam Murshedy said, “We have already talked to the management of the club, which informed us that they have financial problems.” He said. “However, we are hopeful that Muktijoddha Sangsad will play in the Federation Cup in the month of Victory Day because the name of Muktijoddha is involved with our emotion, liberation and many other things.”
Murshedy said they are also trying to convince high-ups of the government to allocate some fund for Muktijoddha Sangsad.
