Super Cup to have 4 semis Like UEFA Cup

Dhaka, Feb 14 (worldsport7.blogspot.com) – Bangladesh Football Federation is going to introduce four semifinals in a tournament in the newly-installed Super Cup beginning on March 3. Four semifinals are seen in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup, something Bangladesh football has never seen. The country's football, however, saw the best-of-three finals among popular clubs Abahani Limited and Mohammedan Sporting Club. The tournament was organised to raise funds for the Sidr-survivors last year. "To make the Super Cup competitive and attractive, we have decided to keep four semifinals in the tournament," said BFF president Kazi Salahuddin, who is immensely influenced by European football. The BFF is going to stage a Tk 2 crore Super Cup with top eight B. League clubs taking part, where the champions will get Tk 1 crore in prize money and the runners-up receive Tk 25 lakh. Salahuddin, himself a legend in Bangladesh football, said Saturday that eight teams, split in two groups, would play each other before top two teams move into the semifinals. He also added that the bottom two teams from each group would play in Plate Cup. The BFF boss also said they would appoint an event management company to make the tournament a success. The game's governing body has also confirmed that four foreign players would be allowed to play for each side and the club could sign up five foreign players. Abahani and Mohammedan were against the idea of playing four foreigners, but others backed it to make the tournament competitive.