Malaysia will be the first foreign team to arrive in the capital today (Tuesday) to participate in the six-nation Bangabandhu Gold Cup International Football Tournament scheduled from January 29 to February 8 in Dhaka and Sylhet, reports UNB.
A 32-member Malaysian team comprising 23 players and nine officials will arrive at the Hazrat Shahjajal International Airport at 9 am by a Bangladesh Biman flight.
Hosts Bangladesh, which keeps their bird eyes on the semifinal, will play Malaysia in the opening match on Thursday (Jan 29) at 5 pm at the Sylhet District Stadium following the opening ceremony.
In the group match, Bangladesh will take on Sri Lanka on February 2 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka.
The Singapore team will arrive in the city tomorrow (Wednesday) at 6 pm while the Thailand team on the same day at 8:10 pm.
The Sri Lankan team is due to reach city on Thursday (Jan 29) at 11:20 am while Bahrain will be the last foreign team to reach Dhaka on Friday (Jan 30) at 5: 30 pm.
Besides, six referees--two each from Qatar, Iran and China-are expected to arrive in the capital today (Tuesday) to conduct the tournament matches along with six other Bangladeshi referees.
Match commissioner from India Goutam Kar, will reach Dhaka on February 4 while Monirul Islam of Bangladesh was also assigned as match commissioner for the tournament.
Hosts Bangladesh (AFC ranking 34th) put in Group-A along with Malaysia (ranking 28) and Sri Lanka (ranking 36) while Group-B comprises Bahrain (ranking 12), Thailand (ranking 23) and Singapore (ranking 30).
The grouping of the tournament was virtually finalised in Melbourne during the AFC meeting in the presence of the representatives of six participating countries.
Four matches - three group matches and one semifinal - will be held in the Sylhet District Stadium while the rest matches will be held at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka.
Earlier, the BFF announced rates of ticket at Tk 100 for VIP gallery while Tk 50 for the general galleries for the group stage matches in Dhaka.
The price of ticket will be Tk 150 for the VIP gallery and Tk 80 for the general galleries for the semifinal and the final match.
Rates of ticket for Sylhet matches will be Tk 50 and 80 respectively.
The official campaign of the tournament began on January 15 with the unveiling of the tournament's logo by Finance Minister AMA Muhith at a hotel in the capital.
Private Television Channel 9 will telecast all the matches of the tournament live.
