National Bank boost for Bangabandhu Gold Cup
Dhaka, January 6 :Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) roped in National Bank Limited as an official partner of the much-awaited upcoming Bangabandhu Gold Cup international football tournament, which the federation president once again reaffirmed will be held in this month.
The first private commercial bank of the country will provide a decent amount – Tk 3 crores to the football federation to become the tournament’s first official partner, apart from Channel 9.
With the signing of the deal between the two parties National Bank also made its return to the football arena after two decades. The last time they were involved was back in 1993-94 when they sponsored the senior division football league.
“We came back to football and hopefully we will continue in the development of football of the country in future,” said the vice president of National Bank, Mir Mosharref Hossain on Monday.
Mir Mosharref and the other vice president, Nazmul Ahsan, were present as representatives of the bank and handed over the cheque to BFF boss Kazi Salahuddin.
“It’s a major boost for the Bangabandhu Gold Cup and football in general while it is also the first important event in the new year. I welcome and want to thank National Bank for stepping forward in becoming a partner of the event,” said Salahuddin.
Salahuddin is scheduled to leave the country on Tuesday to take part in the Extraordinary Congress of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) scheduled for this Thursday and he added, “(There) I will talk to the AFC president and the representatives of other participating teams of the tournament. I can reaffirm that the Bangabandhu Gold Cup will be held within January.”
Meanwhile, private television channel Channel 9 bought the rights of the tournament for Tk 6 crores The money provided by the National Bank will be deposited for the fund of the tournament where the budget is believed to be around Tk12-13 crores.