Senior Bangladesh internationals Sabina Khatun and Masura Parvin have joined the women’s futsal camp in Dhaka after national team coach Peter Butler declined to call them into the football squad’s latest training programme.
The pair have been working alongside fellow excluded players Krishna and Sumaiya as preparations begin for the SAFF Women’s Futsal Championship, which will be held in Thailand from 13 to 26 January alongside the men’s event. Bangladesh have had no structured women’s futsal activity for more than six years, prompting the federation to start with open trials before naming a provisional squad.
Imranur Rahman, chair of the Bangladesh Football Federation’s futsal committee, said, “Seventy women footballers took part in the trial. From there, twenty five are now in camp. Training is taking place at D Box in Mirpur.” Sabina and Masura earned their places through the trial process and Masura said she had no issue with doing so. “We are footballers, we want to play football, whether that is for a club or the national team,” she said. “This is also the national team, we will play for the country. We have experience in futsal. We hope to do well.”
Iranian coach Saeed, who had been contracted through the Asian Cup qualifiers, will remain in charge until the SAFF tournament in January. “The coach’s contract has been extended by three months,” Imranur said. “For the women’s team, a female assistant and a goalkeeping coach will arrive from Tehran. We are giving equal importance to the women’s side.”
Sabina previously captained Bangladesh during the 2018 AFC Women’s Futsal Championship qualifiers in Thailand. She and Sumaiya have also played multiple editions of the Maldives futsal league.
Meanwhile, Nasreen, champions of last season’s Bangladesh Women’s Football League, will represent the country at the SAFF Women’s Club Championship, which begins in Kathmandu on 5 December. The club had hoped to build the side around national players including Rituporna and Rupna, but the federation and coaching staff did not release them. As a result, Sabina, Masura and Krishna declined to play for Nasreen, while another senior international, Sanjida Akter, will captain the team.
Nasreen are due to depart on Wednesday evening, although neither the club nor the federation released an official squad list. Various channels indicated that several under 17 and under 20 players, including Alpi, Preeti and Arpita, would feature. The side have had minimal time training together and, despite being nominally Nasreen Akter Baby’s team, the programme is effectively run under the authority of Mahfuza Akter Kiron, head of the federation’s women’s wing.
Following the recent tri-nation series, national team players will take a short break before resuming residential training in Chattogram. The federation also plans a training camp in Malaysia, including several preparation matches, as part of their next phase of development.
