Bangladeshi industrial group Beximco has become the first sponsor in the history of the South Asian Football Federation. The company has pledged financial support for the SAFF Championship, which begins next week and features international teams including Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bhutan and hosts Bangladesh. Beximco has, however, foregone title rights to the completion, which will instead be named after the founder of Bangladesh – the Bangabandhu SAFF championship.

The deal was announced at a gala event in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, which was attended by representatives from the Asian Football Confederation and the agency that brokered the deal, World Sports, as well as SAFF and Bangaldesh Football Federation president Kazi Salahuddin. He said: “It is simply unparalleled what the Beximco is doing for Bangladesh sports. They have not come here for publicity but for the interest of country’s soccer.”

Salman F. Rahman, the vice-chairman of Beximco, added: “I am very much pleased to be the sponsor of this tournament, by the name of the Father of the Nation. I have every desire to continue this tournament and wish to get involved with more big tournaments like this in future.”