Though the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) claimed that all four matches of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup in Sylhet were sold out two days before the start of the six-national invitational tournament, the reality is that only 20 percent semifinal tickets of the 18,000-capacity Sylhet District Stadium were sold till yesterday, a day before the first semifinal between Malaysia and Singapore.

Sylhet District Football Association president Mahi Uddin Ahmed Saleem, while refuting BFF claims, said that they had never informed the apex body that all tickets were sold out.

“We told them that we have sold all the tickets of the opening match between Bangladesh and Malaysia,” said Saleem, adding that they had sold 70 percent of the tickets for the other two group matches.