Malaysia will be the first foreign team to arrive the capital on Tuesday to participate in the six-nation Bangabandhu Gold Cup International Football Tournament scheduled for January 29 to February 8 in Dhaka and Sylhet.
A 32-member Malaysian team comprising 23 players and nine officials will arrive at Hazrat Shahjajal International Airport at 9 am by a Bangladesh Biman flight.
Hosts Bangladesh, which keeps their bird eyes on the semifinal, will play Malaysia in the opening match on Thursday (Jan 29) at 5 pm at the Sylhet District Stadium following the opening ceremony.
In the group match, Bangladesh will take on Sri Lanka on February 2 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka.
The Singapore team will arrive here on Wednesday at 6 pm while the Thailand team on the same day at 8:10 pm.
The Sri Lankan team is due to reach here on Thursday (Jan 29) at 11:20 am while Bahrain will be last foreign team to reach Dhaka on Friday (Jan 30) at 5: 30 pm.
Besides, six referees–two each from Qatar, Iran and China-are expected to arrive in the capital today (Tuesday) to conduct the tournament matches along with six other Bangladeshi referees.
Match commissioner from India Goutam Kar, will reach here on February 4 while Monirul Islam of Bangladesh was also assigned as match commissioner for the tournament.
Hosts Bangladesh (AFC ranking 34th) put in Group-A along with Malaysia (ranking 28) and Sri Lanka (ranking 36) while Group-B comprises Bahrain (ranking 12), Thailand (ranking 23) and Singapore (ranking 30).
The grouping of the tournament was virtually finalized in Melbourne during the AFC meeting in presence of the representatives of six participating countries.
Four matches – three group matches and one semifinal – will be held in Sylhet District Stadium while the rest matches will be held at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka.
Earlier, the BFF has announced rates of ticket at Tk 100 for VIP gallery while Tk 50 for the general galleries for the group stage matches in Dhaka.
The price of ticket will be Tk 150 for VIP gallery and Tk 80 for the general galleries for the semifinals and the final match.
Rates of ticket for Sylhet matches will be Tk 50 and 80 respectively.
The official campaign of the tournament began on January 15 with the unveiling of the tournament’s logo by Finance Minister AMA Muhith at a hotel in the capital.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Football Federation on Sunday announced a 23-member final squad of Bangladesh National Football team for the six-nation Bangabandhu Gold Cup International Football Tournament
Five players – defenders Mohammad Linkon, Ariful Islam, midfielder Atiqur Rahman Fahad, forwards Rubel Miah, Aminur Rahman Saji – were dropped from the 28-member preliminary squad.
Final squad of Bangladesh team: Russell Mahmud, Shahidul Alam, Mohammad Mazharul Islam (goalkeeper), Rayhan Hasan, Nasir Uddin Chowdhury, Tapu Barman, Nasirul Islam Nasir, Yeasin Khan, Atiqur Rahman Meshu, Yeamin Ahmed Chowdhury Munna (defender), Mamunul Islam Mamun, Hemanta Vincent Biswas, Jamal Bhuiyan, Sohel Rana, Monayem Khan Raju, Abdul Baten Majumder Komal, Shahedul Alam Shahed (midfielder), Taklis Ahmed, Wahed Ahmed, Zahid Hossain, Zahid Hasan Ameli, Mithun Chowdhury and Sakhawat Hossain Rony (forward).
