Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has urged Bashundhara Kings to release their players for next month’s friendlies against Nepal, after an emergency meeting of the national teams committee on sunday.
Bangladesh are scheduled to play two friendlies in Kathmandu during the September FIFA window. Preparations are already underway in camp, but ten Kings footballers called up to the squad have not joined, leaving coach Javier Cabrera with just 14 players. The club has cited pre-season preparations and injury risks as reasons for holding back their players.
The absence has caused a headache for Cabrera, who began training on friday with only 12 players before others gradually joined.
BFF president Tabith Awal, who chairs the national teams committee, and senior vice-president Imrul Hasan, who is also president of Bashundhara Kings, were both notable figures in the discussions. Imrul, however, was absent from sunday’s meeting, neither in person nor online.
After the meeting, BFF executive member and media committee chairman Amirul Islam Babu told reporters:
“We could not reach Imrul bhai, the club’s manager, by phone. In the interest of the country’s football, we will formally request Bashundhara Kings to release the national team’s players either tonight or tomorrow morning. Depending on the response, we will sit again in another emergency meeting after three or four days.”
Asked what would happen if Kings remain firm in their stance, Babu said:
“Training will continue over these three or four days. We are hopeful of something positive. If needed, we will meet again, but there is no possibility of the Nepal matches being cancelled.”
Bashundhara Kings’ general secretary has already written to the BFF general secretary, explaining the club’s position. While FIFA rules require clubs to release players at least 72 hours before international duty, Babu avoided giving a clear answer when questioned repeatedly about this. He did, however, acknowledge that the issue of clubs not releasing players had come up in past cases involving the national, under-23 and under-20 teams.
