BFF ropes in Bashundhara

The Bangladesh Football Federation's (BFF) quest to bring life back into the districts received a big boost as Bashundhara Group came forward to sponsor the district football leagues.
Most of the districts have no football league for years but Bashundhara's support could put an end to the drought as the local group is all set to strike a Tk 4.5-crore deal with the BFF this month.
A three-year agreement, with Bashundhara to provide Tk 1.5-crore each year, will be signed on Sunday with BFF.
"Bashundhara is a local company and it is interested to nurture local talents. They want local footballers to develop and get them into the pipeline," said BFF president Kazi Salahuddin yesterday.
"We will distribute the money through district football associations to run the local leagues, but it would depend on the activities of the respective DFAs.
"We will closely monitor the DFA performances before releasing funds," added the BFF chief. "We need to revive the district leagues because they will provide players for the top competitions and the national team."
The DFAs, formed under the directive of the FIFA, have not been able to find funds to run the game and they have yet to create the right relationship with the district sports associations controlled by the government.
For the new leadership of the BFF, it was another success after striking deals with Citycell and Nokia.
Citycell is providing Tk 16.5 crore for three years for competitions and development programmes while Nokia, which has yet to cement a deal with BFF, is expected to sponsor the national team and the youth development programme for one year.