With only 14 days left, the Bangladesh Football Federation appears to be in a last-minute hurry to host the much talked about Bangabandhu Gold Cup International Football as a good number of elements are still yet to be finalised. However, the tournament is expected to be up and running from today through the logo-unveiling ceremony.
The BFF is still undecided over the trophy and prize money. Different sub-committees are yet to be named while the venues are awaiting final touches. Moreover, the BFF is still unsure whether Dutch coach Lodewijk de Kruif will join the national team.
Six nations will take part in the tournament and the new kick-off date has been rescheduled to January 29. Hosts Bangladesh, Bahrain Under-23, Singapore U-23, Malaysia, Thailand and Sri Lanka will participate in the event in two venues – Dhaka and Sylhet.
As far as De Kruif is concerned, BFF general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag revealed yesterday that the Dutchman’s father passed away recently.
“We have heard about the death of De Kruif’s father but we do not know the details. We will contact him and we hope that within two days we will be able to confirm his availability,” said Shohag.
“We have cleared 70 percent of his dues and the rest 30 percent is also ready. There are no financial
complexities between the coach and the BFF. He is yet to inform us as to how he intends to take the money.”
BFF president Kazi Salahuddin will discuss with the Finance Minister, Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, the chief guest of today’s logo-unveiling ceremony, about the prize money of the competition. It was learnt that the BFF supremo will be expecting a large amount from the Finance Minister.
BFF is also yet to approve the design and weight of the trophy. “We have primarily chosen a trophy which is 20-22 inches long. The champion’s trophy will be a golden one. It will contain gold. However, we are still to decide the prize money. We will decide it as soon as possible,” said Shohag.
BFF is still unsure of Bahrain U-23’s arrival date. Bahrain’s national side are playing the Asian Cup right now but they have a good number of U-23 footballers. The final of the Asian Cup will take place on January 31 and if Bahrain reach the final, their arrival date might be deferred.
BFF is also yet to appeal to Fifa to label the matches as internationals.