The Bangladesh national football team has departed for Hong Kong to play the return leg of their AFC Asian Cup qualifier. A 34-member contingent, including all 23 players from the final matchday squad, left Dhaka on Friday afternoon at 1:30 PM via Thai Airways.
The journey, however, was not without its drama. Midfielder Fahamedul faced a last-minute scramble to receive his passport from the Chinese embassy. Despite all players receiving their visas on Thursday, Fahamedul’s passport was still with the embassy due to a processing delay. After returning from Italy on 30 September, his documents were submitted late by the federation, resulting in a race against time.
While most players left for the airport with passports in hand, Fahamedul had to wait. Remarkably, on a Friday, a public holiday,the Chinese embassy issued his passport through special arrangements. A Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) staff member collected the passport at 11:30 AM and rushed to the airport, arriving just before 12:00 PM to ensure Fahamedul made the flight.
Unlike Fahamedul, players Hamza, Samit and Zayan Ahmed did not require visas for Hong Kong, holding passports from England, Canada and the USA respectively.
The team will have a stopover in Bangkok before reaching Hong Kong at 10:00 PM local time. Training will begin the next day in preparation for the crucial match against Hong Kong on 14 October.
As per international regulations, host nations are not obliged to provide full training facilities or logistical support to visiting teams until 48 hours before a fixture. Bangladesh faced such challenges during their away match in India and expect similar conditions in Hong Kong.
Team manager Amer Khan commented before departure, “Host teams will always try to gain some advantages. Hong Kong even claimed we caused traffic congestion in Dhaka, which was clarified during the match commissioner’s meeting. In a city like ours, such jams are routine.”
Interestingly, while Bangladesh travelled on a commercial flight, Hong Kong opted for a chartered flight when departing from Dhaka on Thursday night.
