Camp cancelled after Kings refuse to release players

Premier League champion Bashundhara Kings refused to release eight players of the South Asian Games squad until November 30, which resulted in head coach Jamie Day canceling the afternoon’s practice session, as well as the training camp, scheduled to begin Thursday.

The eight players are goalkeeper Anisur Rahman Zico, defenders Yeasin Khan, Bishwanath Ghosh and Sushanta Tripura, midfielders Mohammad Ibrahim and Rabiul Hasan and forwards Biplu Ahmed and Mahbubur Rahman Sufil.

Captain Jamal Bhuiyan was also absent after taking a leave from Day till Monday, while the rest of the players reported at the camp.

BFF general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag admitted Thursday that Bashundhara had sent a letter to the federation Wednesday, stating that they are not bound to release the players for non-Fifa window competitions according to the rules, and that they would only release them on November 30, one day before the start of the football competition of the 13th SA Games in Kathmandu, Nepal.

“After receiving the letter, I personally talked to Bashundhara president Imrul Hasan, who humbly requested to give them five to six days to practice together. In quest of the greater interests of the country, I request them to help us realize our target in the SA Games by releasing the players as other clubs such as Abahani [Limited], Saif [Sporting Club], Sheikh Russel [KC], [Lt.] Sheikh Jamal [DC] also sacrificed from their respective position,” said Shohag.

The African players continued their dominance among the foreign recruits of the season 2019-20, but their percentage, especially the Nigerians, has decreased than the previous seasons, while the Asian players continued to rise in numbers in Bangladeshhttps://t.co/CuDrtrwbOg#BFF

— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) November 21, 2019

Kings president Imrul said, “When can we have a pre-season preparation if the Federation Cup starts after the end of the SA Games? We didn’t have three consecutive days of training together since September. We need to get the team combination right between the local and foreign players.”

Imrul informed that they will release the players next Friday after playing a practice match either against Sheikh Jamal or East Bengal FC.

Amid the circumstances, the BFF sat for a meeting with Day in the evening after which the Englishman denied the possibility of replacing eight players.

“We have lots of good players at Bashundhara and they will be used in national team again. We have changed the date now and that’s something we have to adopt and move on,” said Day.

“We can’t have a training camp with 10 players because it will not have any benefit for the national team. We think it’s right to cancel the camp and we meet on the 30th (November) as a team to travel to the SA Games. Hopefully we can still do well in such tough situation,” he concluded.