Dhaka, Jan 26: The Bangabandhu Gold Cup International Football will be telecast live across all six participating countries through Fox Sports and Channel 9, giving the much awaited 11-day event a true international flavor. The tournament kicks off on January 29 at Sylhet with the participation of hosts Bangladesh, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bahrain and Singapore. 

The details and sponsors of the tournament were officially introduced by the Bangladesh Football Federation through a press conference at the BFF House on Monday in the presence of Enayetur Rahman Bappi and federation president Kazi Salahuddin. 

BFF chief Salahuddin was overwhelmed by the response of the sponsors and said, “With the presence of such admirable personalities I see a bright future for the Bangladesh football and I hope the bonding will continue.” 

AB Bank are the presenting sponsors of the mega event while Ha-Meem Group, National Bank and Modhumoti Bank are the official partners. Biman Bangladesh Airlines and Novo Air are the international and domestic airlines partners respectively while Muskan became the beverage partner. 

AK Azad, the managing director of Ha-Meem Group, expressed their desire to uplift the standard of football in the country saying, “The revival of Bangabandhu Gold Cup after 16 years is an omen of football being placed in the right track of development. BFF has to take the required steps to uplift the standard and we will be beside the development.”

“We believe that football can revive its glory with such initiatives,” were the words that came from Moshiur Rahman Chowdhury, the deputy managing director of AB Bank, while the managing director of National Bank Ltd, Shamsul Huda Khan said, “National Bank’s involvement with football is not a new one and we look forward to carry the relationship.”

Bappi emphasised on lifting football to a better level and said, “The local players get quite a handsome amount by playing the professional league. Football is a big industry globally and if we can take the right initiatives Bangladesh can enter the global industry, Bangladesh will be showcased in all the other five countries through Bangabandhu Gold Cup.”

Shafikul Islam and Mofizur Rahman represented Biman and Novo Air during the conference.