Football fever gripped Bangladesh during the 2014 Fifa World Cup which ended one-and-a-half months ago. A new sort of football fever has taken hold of the people of Sylhet ahead of the first ever international football match to be held in the north-eastern city.
The match between Bangladesh and Nepal will be played at the Sylhet Zila Stadium, the pitch of which is, however, not upto the mark. An incredible 90 percent of tickets have already been sold out and it will not be a surprise if many misses the game for not being able to buy a ticket in advance yesterday.
“90 percent of the tickets have been sold out by today (yesterday). The demand is very high and I expect the rest of the tickets to be sold out before the game and it will be a full-house gallery tomorrow (today),” said Sylhet District Football Association president Mohiuddin Ahmed Selim yesterday.
The Sylhet DFA is said to be carrying out all the expenses of the players from both the teams. They provided the accommodation of the full squads of both the teams in a well-reputed hotel, provided quality food and all other costs.
The situation in Sylhet regarding the international football friendly could be an eye opener for the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) who should now think of arranging more football matches outside the capital city.
The federation, however, received criticism for arranging the travel of the players from Dhaka to Sylhet. It took the bus 11 hours to arrive in Sylhet whereas the regular time is usually five hours.
While talking to Nepal coach Jack Stefanowski, the first thing the media asked was how long it took the Nepalese team to arrive in Sylhet. “How long did it take? 12 hours?” The reply was, “No. Six hours.” He smiled and said, “You guys are smart and intelligent.”
The conversation indirectly mocked the arrangement of the journey they had to take from BKSP to Sylhet. The criticism was also about the team bus (Saint Martin) the federation provided for the squad.
BFF, however, is now planning for a different route and a change of transport for the return of the players.
“We will follow a different route when the teams return to Dhaka. We will finalise it by tomorrow (today). It could be on train or a shortcut route from Sylhet to Dhaka. We could also replace the bus,” said BFF general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag yesterday.
