Cambodia, East Timor earmarked for friendly before Singapore tie

Bangladesh will play either Cambodia or East Timor in a FIFA international friendly ahead of their final AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers match against Singapore in March.

Already out of contention for the Asian Cup, Bangladesh will play their sixth and final qualifier away to Singapore on March 31. Following a meeting of the National Teams Committee on Saturday, chaired by vice-chairman Imrul Hasan, it was decided that the national team camp will begin on March 20, with the squad set to depart for Singapore on March 28.

BFF media committee chairman Amirul Islam Babu said efforts are underway to bring either Cambodia or East Timor to Bangladesh for the friendly, with Sylhet being considered as the venue. If that proves unfeasible, Bangladesh will travel to play the friendly away before heading to Singapore.

Imrul also confirmed that work would be carried out to improve the pitch and overall facilities at the Sylhet District Football Stadium in preparation for the match.

Later, a meeting of the Professional Football League Committee, also chaired by Imrul, decided that the Independence Cup will be held from May 5 to 23. The tournament will feature 16 teams and be staged across four venues.

The 10 Bangladesh Football League sides will be joined by the champions and runners-up of the Bangladesh Championship League, the champions of the National Football Championship, and three services teams --Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Navy and Bangladesh Police. Only local players will be eligible for the tournament.