The sixth edition of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup international football tournament will be held at only one venue, the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka from January 15 to 25, confirmed Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) president Kazi Salahuddin.

The BFF boss, while speaking at the agreement signing ceremony with the tournament’s sponsors K-Sports at the BFF house yesterday, said that it was appropriate to stage the tournament at the central stadium named after Bangabandhu.

“Since the tournament is being held as part of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s birth centenary celebration, we have decided that it will be held centrally at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, not any other venue,” Salahuddin said.

The last three editions, which were held after a gap of 16 years, were held both at the BNS and at one or more venues outside the capital. This is the first time since 1999 that the tournament will be held at a single venue.

The tournament was scheduled for 2019, but the BFF high-ups claimed that to make the tournament part of Bangabandhu’s birth centenary celebration, the start of the tournament has been deferred to January 15, 2020. The organisers are expecting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to grace the final match.

Even though the tournament’s participants were not disclosed to the media, a source inside the BFF hinted that they were considering from among Laos, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan as well as a couple of other teams to invite. However, these details will be disclosed during the logo unveiling and draw ceremony next Saturday, the organsiers said.

Sponsors’ K-Sports’ CEO Fahad Karim claimed that they would try to incorporate some new technologies in broadcast and production of the event. “There will be some novelty in production. We will also give emphasis on digital marketing and online streaming of the matches,” Karim said.

BFF’s general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag informed that they have contacted FIFA for allowing a former player to be part of this tournament as an ambassador, although no official confirmation from FIFA in this regard has been received as yet.

The agreement signing ceremony was attended, among others, by BFF’s senior vice-president Abdus Salam Murshedy, BFF women’s committee chairman Mahfuza Akter Kiron, a few BFF executive members and K-Sports representatives.