The Bangladesh national football team’s tour of Thailand will be moved to next month due to Dutch head coach Lodewijk de Kruif’s suggestion that the players are not
physically fit yet to compete against a higher-ranked Thailand.
The Bangladesh Football Federation earlier decided to send the national team to Thailand on July 10 for a 10-day conditioning camp ahead of the SAFF Championship in September.
The BFF then altered their decision and postponed the tour by ten days to July 20.
However, the national team management committee urged BFF president Kazi Salahuddin not to send the national team to Thailand this month on the advice of Kruif.
Bangladesh played a friendly match against the Thais in Bangkok in November last year when they lost 5-0, hence the Dutch coach is desperate to prepare his team properly before encountering them.
Bangladesh are ranked 152nd in the official FIFA world rankings while Thailand are in 138th place.
‘The national team management committee has asked to defer the Thailand tour to next month as they [Kruif and assistant coach Rene Koster] are of the opinion that the national squad requires a couple of weeks more to adapt to the conditioning camp and get their fitness level higher,’ Salahuddin told reporters on Monday.
‘If they go now, they may not do well against a higher-ranked team like Thailand. The coach has also requested the same thing,’ the BFF president added.
The Thailand national football team will be engaged until July 17 as they are set to face the three giants of English football – Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea.
Bangladesh will take part in two friendly matches against Thailand during the tour.
Meanwhile, the BFF will sign a short-term contract with Dutch physical trainer Mohammet Yamali on Thursday after management committee chairman Kazi Nabil Ahmed returns home.
The contract will be for four months and Yamali is set to receive a monthly salary of Tk 5.5 or Tk 6.6 lakh from the BFF.
-With New Age input
