New Sports Betting Section on 888.com

888.com online casino is one of the most well known brands and they are into sport as well, they are the sponsors of the Middlesbrough and Sevilla Football Clubs and 888 also sponsor the World Snooker Championship.

888 online casino and poker room offers a huge variety of casino games such as blackjack (and their version of the game - crazy blackjack), online roulette, slots and more.

In 2006 they added online bingo by acquiring the Globalcom brand, and this year, finally, they will launch the sports betting section as a new feature allowing players to get all of their poker, casino and sports betting needs from one site.

The sports betting new section should be a very popular one with fans from all over the world and will offer sport fans the chance to bet on the most popular sporting events.

English Football and the Web

As much as I enjoy keeping up with Bangladesh football from here there are many locals who enjoy following the English League that is, after all, the most followed league in the world.

One way to get full information on just about everything that is going on the English leagues is via the web. There are many website but one of the best that I have found gives not only all the latest news but also details on football odds and fixtures.

The big advantage to using the web is of course that you can choose when and where you catch up on your football. These days you can even get live video feeds for important games.

Friendly Soccer Tie on Eid Day

The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has arranged a friendly match on Eid at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.

A BFF XI and a National Sports Council XI will play the match that will start at 6pm at the big bowl.

The national camp players, who are preparing for this month's Merdeka Cup in Malaysia, and the B. League players will take part in the match.

BFF vice-president Badal Roy said that they would arrange the match to inspire the footballers.

BFF and Citycell Sign Deal

The partnership between Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) and Citycell that is expected to give the dying game in the country a lifeline was made official yesterday after the two parties signed an MoU for the development of football.

Citycell will provide the cash-starved BFF Tk 16.5 crore over the next three years as the federation's 'partner in progress'.

"I thank Citycell for its generosity and hope it will be with us beyond the three years," said BFF president Kazi Salahuddin before signing the deal at the BFF Bhaban.

"These three years will be a chance to prove ourselves and if we do well, I hope the sponsors will remain with us," the former national footballer added.

When asked whether the amount was sufficient to implement all the programmes the new BFF committee has taken, Salahuddin said that 'sky is the limit for football'.

"We need millions but this is the base from where we can start climbing. Now it's our responsibility to take it further ahead. We are close to roll football to the ground as the Citycell Federation Cup starts on July 26. From then on, we will keep football on the ground for ten months. That was the promise my committee had made," Salahuddin said.

Citycell will be the title sponsors of the Federation Cup, B. League and the school championships and left options for the BFF to drag in other sponsors for tournaments like the National Football League and the national senior and youth championships. The cellular phone operators will happily act as co-sponsors for other events.

"We are still working on the details of the deal but the sponsored amount for the B. League is Tk one crore. As I had promised, 70 percent of it will be handed over to the clubs before the professional league."

The funds would be provided part by part, according to requirements of the programmes set by the BFF, confirmed the BFF chief.

Michael Seymour, CEO of Citycell, said three years is a 'fair enough' time to be in a position to assess whether his organisation would continue its support afterwards.

"We are here to support BFF and look forward to revival of football through the BFF plans that have been shown to us. "We believe that it can be achieved as there is massive interest for the game. It would be a milestone if we could play part in the big revival of the game," said the chief executive of the country's only CDMA mobile phone network.

"It would take a lot of efforts to develop the game among the youth and we would also like to see that the money is wisely spent.

"It is my great pleasure and honour to be present on this historic occasion when Citycell joins hands with the BFF to bring back to life the passion foot football in this country. Although the number of success (in international arena) in recent times is few, there are innumerable opportunities to rejuvenate the game by realising the latent talent of our youth.

"Our passion for the game is evident and with positive development of football, we foresee our youth reviving the game not only within the country but also taking on these global challenges in the years to come.

"We are collaborating with BFF under an agreement which is renewable every year for three years and is subject to the performance of the federation in bringing football back to its former glory and beyond. Under the dynamic and able leadership of the BFF president Kazi Salahuddin, we believe this is the right time to enter into this relationship."

The BFF high-ups and Citycell's head of marketing Ananda Rajasinghan and general manager (marketing, communications and branding) Sania Mahmood were also present at the agreement signing ceremony.

BFF Connects Citycell with Landmark Deal

The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has struck a landmark sponsorship deal with Citycell worth Tk 16.5 crore for three years, the biggest ever trade in the country's football history.

Although it was reported that Citycell, one of the leading cellular phone operators, will give the governing body of football Tk 15 crore, BFF president Kazi Salahuddin yesterday confirmed that the deal was worth more.

"We are going to get 16.5 crore taka for the next three years when Citycell will be our partner in progress," the BFF boss, who was given sole authority to complete the deal by his executive committee, told The Daily Star.

An MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) will be signed between the two parties this afternoon at the BFF Bhaban, two and half months after the newly elected BFF body's takeover. The details of the deals will be disclosed to the media after signing of the MoU.

The former national footballer added that Citycell will get title sponsorship rights of two major tournaments under the federation, this month's Federation Cup and the B. League, apart from the school competitions.

Citycell, however, looked to snatch the sponsorship from the grasp of rival cellular phone operators Aktel, who at one stage were seemingly ahead in the race.

It was learned that Aktel - now in the backseat - had wanted a few more days to convince its high-ups for a contract but the delay probably paved way for the country's only CDMA network, which sealed the victory around midnight on Saturday.

The BFF president, who had begun negotiating with major corporate houses to get a worthy sponsorship deal since occupying the hot seat of Bangladesh football, has already said that he would need a number of co-sponsors to meet the demand of organising tournaments and run development programmes according to his plans.

"I want to our my own fund for the development programmes and events so that I can use the money we get from FIFA and AFC to concentrate on bringing full professionalism to the management of the federation," he said.

It can be mentioned that the FIFA gives the BFF 2.5 lakh dollars per annum as donation and the AFC provides 70,000 dollars for salary of BFF coaches.

Basically, the BFF's previous executive committee survived on these contributions as it only managed less than Tk 5 crore as sponsorship for the last six years.

A major portion of the amount, however, was given by National Football League sponsors Nitol-Tata Group for three editions of the tournament.

For a starving federation - Salahuddin's committee started with a cash deficit of nearly Tk 40 lakh - the deal is like a silver lining in dark clouds if one considers that football had not been played at top level in the country for one year.

Although the BFF had sold its inaugural professional football league to an Indian agency for at least Tk 75 lakh last year, the B. League ended without any title sponsor. The co-sponsors, however, provided a scanty amount.