Football fever leads grand champion to Thailand!

The winners of IDLC Kickstart 3.0, an exciting fantasy football challenge launched by IDLC Finance during the FIFA World Cup 2026, were recently presented with their prizes at a grand event. The awarding ceremony was held at Lakeshore Heights, Gulshan, on 16 August, 2026, a press release said.

Md. Atiqul Islam Rabby, the Grand Champion of Kickstart 3.0 received two air tickets to Thailand, while 35 more winners from different game weeks and knockout rounds also received a range of prizes, including electric bikes, Android TVs, drones, smart projectors, smart bands, wireless headphones, smart tablets, and portable audio speakers.

M Jamal Uddin, Managing Director & CEO of IDLC Finance PLC, handed over the prizes to the winners. Group CFO Masud Karim Majumder, Head of Operations Indrajit Mallick, Head of Treasury Nurul Karim Patwery, Chief Technology Officer Md. Nurul Alam Jewel were also present at the event, among other higher officials from IDLC.

Near 300,000 football enthusiasts from across Bangladesh participated in Kickstart 3.0 during the World Cup. It was a remarkable continuation of the legacy of Kickstart 1.0 and 2.0, held during the 2018 and 2022 World Cups respectively. Alongside its digital presence, the campaign also engaged young football fans through inter-university activations with 18 university’s sports-clubs. The campaign fundamentally aims at helping the youth understand financial planning concepts in a more relatable manner through simulated gamification. Participants had to build their best squads with a limited budget, select players strategically every week, and make crucial decisions throughout the tournament – drawing parallels with planning, budgeting and informed decision-making in personal finance.

M Jamal Uddin, Managing Director & CEO of IDLC Finance PLC, said, “Kickstart is our way of making financial planning more relatable to young people through an experience they already enjoy. We hope the campaign encouraged participants to bring the same discipline, planning and strategic approach into their real-life financial decisions.”