The long wait for the sixth and final participant of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup International Football Tournament 2015 is finally over as the Bangladesh Football Federation confirmed yesterday that Sri Lanka will take part in the event.
After five teams – hosts Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Bahrain and Singapore - were confirmed as the participants of the much-talked about tournament last month, the BFF has sent invitations to several countries for the sixth slot but was unable to finalise anything until yesterday. During this time, the names of many countries were being discussed.
It was believed that the name of the last team would be finalised before, during or after the Extra-Ordinary Congress of the Asian Football Confederation, which is being held in Australia. BFF president Kazi Salahuddin and general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag are part of the Bangladesh contingent in the Congress and yesterday, Shohag confirmed Sri Lanka's participation.
“The participating countries of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup International Football Torunament 2015 are Thailand, Malaysia, Bahrain, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Bangladesh. The other details of the tournament will be declared through an official press conference on the 12th or 13th of January, 2015, at the BFF House,” informed the BFF yesterday evening through a press release.
However, the fixtures of the long-awaited international tournament has not been finalised yet. The previous starting date was set at January 16 but it was learnt that the event is likely to be postponed by at least a week or more.