Bangladesh invited to Challenge Cup

Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) got official invitation from the Asian Football Federation (AFC) to take part in the Second AFC Challenge Cup to be held in Taipei next year.
"We have decided to take part in the tournament and will start the camp soon after announcement of the 20-nation tournament's schedule," informed BFF acting general secretary Manzoor Hossain Malu yesterday.
The inaugural tournament for the second-tier football nations of Asia was held in Bangladesh in April last year where Bangladesh went out of the race in the quarterfinals with a 6-1 defeat to Tajikistan.
Apart from hosts and Bangladesh, Asia's apex football body also invited Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, North Korea, Guam, Palestine, Philippines, Tajikistan, Timor Lorosae, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan and Laos.
Meanwhile, AFC vice-president Manilal Fernando will pay a one day visit to Bangladesh to see the progress of establishing two football centres and a football academy.
Fernando, also an AFC development director, is scheduled to arrive on Wednesday.
AFC sanctioned US$ 5 lakh tsunami fund in 2005 to build two football centres and it extended the timeframe after the deadline expired in June last year and they sanctioned US$ 4,000 under the second Goal project to build a football academy.