Argentina goalkeeper Martinez now in Dhaka
Football
Emiliano Martinez, the goalkeeper of Argentina's World Cup-winning squad is now in Dhaka.
The plane carrying Martinez arrived at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the early hours of Monday, confirmed Group Captain Kamrul Islam, executive director of Dhaka Airport.
He will leave Dhaka for Kolkata in the afternoon.
During his stay in Dhaka, Martinez will stay at the FundedNext office. He is expected to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at 2pm.
Marinez's Kolkata visit is organised by Satadru Dutta, a sports promoter from India. Due to Bangladesh being close, the Argentine goalkeeper showed his interest to visit Dhaka. He arrived in Dhaka 11 hours before going to Kolkata.
Unfortunately, the golden glove-winning keeper won't be able to meet his fans during this short visit.
"We wanted to organise an event where his fans will be able to meet Martinez. But we had to cancel it afterwards," FundedNext Founder and CEO Syed Abdullah Jayed told Prothom Alo.
The reason for the cancellation was his long journey and very short stay.
Earlier, the Aston Villa shot-stopper confirmed his visit to the sub-continent via his official Facebook page on 29 May.
He wrote, "Hello Everybody, I will be doing my maiden trip to the Indian subcontinent from 3rd July to 5th July and will participate in many charitable activities including visiting as a chief guest for a charity football match at Mohun Bagan club, many fan engagement programs, sponsors felicitation and promote the beautiful game. I know Kolkata and Bangladesh have huge Argentina fans and I am very excited to meet them. Thank you Satadru for this initiative! Ami tomader bhalo bhashi!"
Satadru Dutta, an entrepreneur from Kolkata, who is organising this visit by Martinez also teased via his Facebook page that the best goalkeeper of the World Cup award winner would be coming to Bangladesh and India.
Dutta, through his organisation "Satadru Dutta initiative," has brought many football legends like Diego Maradona, Pele and Cafu to Kolkata.
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