Independence Cup draw held

The draw of the 16-team Independence Cup 2022 was held at the BFF House at Motijheel in Dhaka. Apparently, all the teams had equal opportunity to move to the next stage as the groups were seen to be quite balanced.
Mohammedan Sporting Club, Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra, Forties Football Club, and Forties Football Club were placed in Group-A. Group-B consists of Bashundhara Kings, Chittagong Abahani, Azampur Football Club, Uttara and Team-13 while Group-C is comprised of Dhaka Abahani, Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad Krira Chakra, Team-12 and Uttara Football Club. the Group-D got Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club, Bangladesh Police Football Club, Rahmatganj Muslim Friends Society and BFF Elite Football Academy Team.
A total of 11 teams from the Bangladesh Premier League were directly picked to play in the group round.
Among the other teams, four are from the Bangladesh Champions League (BCL) and these are BFF Elite Football Academy Team, Fakirerpool Young Men's Club, Uttara Football Club and Little Friends Club. The other three are services teams including Bangladesh Air Force Football Team, Army Football Team and Navy Football Team.
Winning the lottery, the teams from BCL except for Little Friends Club already got tickets to the group round. The remaining teams in the qualification will play each other to decide the teams 12 and 13 to play the main round and teams 14 to 16 for places. Now, the three services teams and Little Friends Club will play the qualifiers.
The group round will begin on 13 November. The quarter-finals are to be played on 26 and 27 November while the semifinals are to be played on 30 November and 1 December. The place decider will be played on 4 December and the final is on 5 December.
The matches will be played at three venues, the District Stadium in Cumilla, Bir Shrestha Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium in Munshiganj and Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani Stadium in Gopalganj.
The third-place decider will be played in Munshiganj while Cumilla will host the final.
A vice president of the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) Ataur Rahman Bhuiyan, general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag and representatives of the participating clubs attended the drawing programme.