BFF staff received SAFF champions' luggage intact, claim Biman, HSIA

The authorities of Biman Bangladesh Airlines and Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) said the luggage of SAFF champion footballers were received by the Bangladesh Football Federation representative in a "locked and intact" condition, report agencies.

Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) representatives and the players collected their luggage in proper condition, according to Tahera Khondker, Biman's general manager of public relations. No complaints were lodged regarding the loss of any belongings from the baggage when they were collected.

"BFF representatives left the airport with the luggage loaded onto two vans. After reviewing the CCTV footage from various parts of the airport, the allegations were not found to be true."

The authority said that they did not find any irregularity in handling the luggage at the airport, after going over CCTV footage.

Earlier, at least two members of the Bangladesh women's football team claimed their luggage were broken into at the airport and money was stolen.

On Thursday, the team's coach Golam Rabbani said he heard the claims that Shamsunnahar and Krishna Rani Sarkar's bags were cut open and US dollars were stolen. Fullback Shamsunnahar told several media outlets that dollars and local currency worth around Tk 250,000 were stolen from her bag. The locks on the luggage of a few other footballers were broken.

"After receiving the complaint, we checked the CCTV footage and found that the complaint (of luggage being broken into) is not true," a press release from HSIA authority reads. The press release was signed by the executive director of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Kamrul Islam.

Bangladesh women's football team landed in Dhaka on Wednesday around 1:45 pm. They were taken to the headquarters of Bangladesh Football Federation from there by an open-deck bus.