After more than a decade and a half, the wheels of the long-awaited Bangabandhu Gold Cup International Football are finally set to roll again through the opening match between hosts Bangladesh and Malaysia Under-23 at Sylhet District Stadium today.
The mega event will usher in a new era in Bangladesh football as this is the first time an international tournament is being inaugurated outside the capital, Dhaka.
The six-nation tournament, also featuring Bahrain, Thailand, Singapore and Sri Lanka, will get underway today in the north-eastern district of Sylhet, the same venue which hosted its first ever international football match last year. On that occasion, a huge crowd of around 40,000 people thronged the stadium to watch the international friendly between Bangladesh U-23 and Nepal U-23.
The capacity of the venue, however, is not more than 15,000 with some believing it is only 12,000. This time, the local organisers said they only printed 15,000 tickets and no complimentary ones.
“There is no specific record of the number of spectators who watched the game from the sidelines. After what happened during the Bangladesh-Nepal match last year, we are more careful this time. All the 17,000 tickets have been sold. If you give me 10,000 more I can sell it by tomorrow (today) but we will not do that due to security reasons,” said Mohiuddin Ahmed Selim, president of Sylhet District Football Association yesterday.
Selim also announced the details of today’s opening ceremony. “The opening ceremony will be a 30-minute programme. There will be stage shows on our tea gardens, Monipuri dances and Baul music. Popular local singers Shuvro Dev and Mila Islam will also perform.”
While Sylhet is getting ready to host the much-hyped tournament, Dhaka is also waiting to hold the other group stage matches. Among the other teams, Singapore and Sri Lanka were scheduled to arrive yesterday night.
In the previous Bangabandhu Gold Cup in 1999, Japan League XI defeated Ghana Olympic team to clinch the title. Two years earlier, Malaysia B claimed the inaugural crown.