IDLC Kickstart 3.0, a fantasy football campaign by IDLC Finance, linked nearly 3 lakh gamers with financial planning concepts during the FIFA World Cup 2026 by turning squad selection, budgeting and strategic decisions into lessons on managing resources, the company said.
Participants built their fantasy squads within a limited budget, selected players strategically each week and made decisions throughout the tournament, reflecting the principles of planning, prioritisation and informed choices in personal finance.
The campaign’s grand champion, Md Atiqul Islam Rabby, received two air tickets to Thailand at an award ceremony held at Lakeshore Heights, Gulshan, on Sunday.
Another 35 winners from different game weeks and knockout rounds received prizes including electric bikes, Android TVs, drones, smart projectors, smart bands, wireless headphones, smart tablets and portable audio speakers.
“Kickstart is our way of making financial planning more relatable to young people through an experience they already enjoy,” IDLC Finance Managing Director and CEO M Jamal Uddin said.
“We hope the campaign encouraged participants to bring the same discipline, planning and strategic approach into their real-life financial decisions,” he added.
Beyond the digital platform, the initiative also engaged young football fans through inter-university activities involving 18 university sports clubs.
Kickstart 3.0 followed earlier editions held during the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups, continuing IDLC’s effort to use gamification to make financial concepts more accessible to young people.
Senior IDLC officials, including Group Chief Financial Officer Masud Karim Majumder, Head of Operations Indrajit Mallick, Head of Treasury Nurul Karim Patwery and Chief Technology Officer Md Nurul Alam Jewel, attended the award ceremony.
