After a gap of five years international football returns to the country in the shape of the Prime Minister Gold Cup. Formerly it was known as the Bangabandhu Gold Cup.

A total of eight foreign teams and four local clubs are expected to participate in the January 21-February 5 event to be staged at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.

Club sides from Asian soccer powerhouses South Korea, Japan, Qatar and Sryia are expected to join outfits from Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Sri Lanka or Nepal for the 12-team festival.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has allocated an estimated four-crore taka. Besides, the local governing body is almost ready to announce formation an organising committee.

BFF president SA Sultan, general secretary Anwarul Hoque Helal,

deputy general secretary Manzoor Hossain Malu and other high-ups visited the State Minister for Youth and Sports Fazlur Rahman yesterday to discuss different issues about the proposed tournament.

“We have requested the sports minister to find an influential chairman for the organising committee because we require huge funds at our disposal to host a tournament of this magnitude. He has assured us of all-out support to make the event a success,” Malu said on Sunday.

“As the tournament is named after the Prime Minister, we can't have any title sponsors. But instead we will go for co-sponsors however the organising committee will have to arrange the fund. We also discussed about increasing facilities for the VIP lounge, media and the pavilions and also improve ground condition.”

It is likely that Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman will be requested to become chairman of the organising committee.

When drawn his attention toward the budget, Malu informed that it would be finalised in the October 18 meeting of the BFF executive committee. The meeting will also form the subcommittees.

Asked about the participating countries, Malu revealed: “South Korea will send a team from the Business League. Syria have also named their team.

”Other countries have yet to finalise their representatives but we have received written confirmation of their willingness to take part. If the number of teams increases, then obviously we will increase the number of groups. And in that case, the number of games will be reduced as well as the budget,” he added.