Bashundhara Kings were firm in their decision not to release players for the national team camp, but made a late exception on Tuesday evening, allowing England-based midfielder Cuba Mitchell to join the Bangladesh Under-23 squad just hours after the team returned from Bahrain.
Mitchell, 19, joined the camp in Dhaka after returning from Qatar, marking a shift in the club’s earlier stance. Four Kings players had been included in the U-23 squad, with Jony, Rimon and Shrabon travelling from Qatar to Bahrain, while Mitchell was initially denied permission and sent back to Bangladesh from Qatar.
Despite repeated requests from the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) via official letters, Kings remained reluctant to release their players. The club had earlier also refused to release several senior players, including Tapu Barman, Saad Uddin, Tariq Kazi, Hridoy, Sohel Rana, Md Sohel Rana (goalkeeper), Shahriar Emon, Faisal Ahmed Fahim, Taj Uddin and Rakib Hossain, who had been called up for two international friendlies in Nepal.
Although Kings did not allow Mitchell to travel to Bahrain with the U-23s from Doha, they had permitted him to join the national team three days before the squad left Bangladesh. Following his eventual inclusion, it is now expected that other Kings players named in the squad will also report to camp in due course.
The AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers will take place from 3 to 9 September in Vietnam. The Bangladesh team is scheduled to depart on the night of 29 August.
Team manager Shaheen Hasan told the media, “We will be training at the national stadium for the next three days. For that reason, we have moved the camp to a hotel in Kakrail from Baridhara. Cuba joined the camp this evening. Fahamidul Islam will join the squad directly in Vietnam.”
Kings had previously cited extended periods without structured training, concern for the long-term welfare of their players, and the need to reduce injury risk as reasons behind their reluctance to release players.