Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) officials discussed the country’s football development plans with FIFA president Gianni Infantino during his brief stopover in Dhaka on Sunday.
Infantino was travelling to Bhutan when he stopped at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. BFF president Tabith Awal and four vice-presidents met him in a restricted area of the airport.
The meeting lasted around an hour, during which the BFF officials raised several issues related to the growth of football in Bangladesh.
One of the main topics was the planned FIFA-funded technical centre in Cox’s Bazar. The federation also sought more financial support for the project.
BFF vice-president and Government Relations Committee chairman Wahid Uddin Chowdhury Happy said Infantino responded positively to the request.
“The president and all of us discussed various issues concerning Bangladesh football. We informed him about the construction of the FIFA-funded technical centre in Cox’s Bazar. He also gave us an initial assurance that FIFA could increase its financial support if necessary,” Happy said.
BFF president Tabith Awal also revealed some conversations with Infantino. He said, “There was a lot of talk regarding Bangladesh’s advancement in football with the FIFA president. We have diasporas in the UK and Italy, we talked about how we can use them. We have fans in countries like Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, we talked about how we can get them involved and attracted as well. We gave examples of how we can use solar power in the stadiums.”
Infantino left Dhaka for Thimphu at 2:50 pm. He will spend two days in Bhutan before returning on October 20.
The visit gave Bangladesh football officials a chance to speak directly with the head of world football, even though Infantino did not leave the airport.
Several FIFA presidents have visited Bangladesh over the years. Former FIFA president Joao Havelange visited Dhaka in the early 1980s and attended a Pioneer Football event.
Sepp Blatter also travelled to Bangladesh in 2006 for the AFC Challenge Cup. He returned for another visit in 2012.
Infantino previously visited Dhaka in 2019. His latest stopover was much shorter and did not include any public programme. The BFF had little time to prepare for Sunday’s meeting, as Infantino’s stopover remained uncertain until Saturday evening.
