Ben Efe
9 June 2011
Bangladesh’s football federation president, Kazi Salahuddin said Wednesday that top Nigerian and Argentine stars must play in the September 6 friendly billed for Dhaka.
Salauddin confirmed that the contract signed with both the Nigeria and Argentina federation made it mandatory for all their top players to be present for the game.
“Our $4 million contract with both sides says the Argentina team must include Messi,” he said, referring to the Barcelona attacker and world player of the year.
“The sight of Messi playing on our soil will be the best thing to have happened to Bangladesh football in many years. It will prompt a lot of boys to play football,” he predicted.
The match in Dhaka “isa FIFA-approved international friendly. “It’s not like the Abuja match in which Nigeria took on an Argentina B side,” Salauddin said, referring to a match last week.
“It will be a competitive game with no chance of any betting or fixing,” he said, adding that suggestions the match might be fixed were “rubbish”.
The Bangladesh game has been organised by India-based firm Celebrity Management Group, who have also set up a match between Argentina and Venezuela in Kolkata on 2 September.
NFF spokesman Ademola Olajire confirmed yesterday that the Eagles will travel to Dhaka to honor the match.
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