In a dramatic move, the Bangladesh Football Federation on Sunday decided to introduce foreign players in the Women’s Football Premier League, scheduled to start in the first week of February.
A maximum of three foreign players will be allowed in each team, a decision which has raised quite a few eyebrows as Bangladesh’s men’s football is already suffering due to a huge influx of foreign players.
‘I want my girls to play but I had to make the decision under pressure from the clubs since we do not have sufficient players for the eight teams,’ said Sirajul Islam Bachchu, chairman of the BFF women’s wing.
‘We have only three or four strikers playing football professionally. In that case all the teams will not even a get a specialist player in the forward position,’ Bachchu added.
Bachchu argued that the decision of allowing foreigners will help them develop women’s football in the country as it will give the Bangladeshi players an opportunity to play more with their regional opponents and get an idea of them.
Bangladesh were eliminated from the first round of the SAFF Women’s Championship in 2012, their poorest result after the competition was introduced in 2010 and Bachchu informed that most of the foreigners are coming from SAFF champion nation India and runners-up Nepal.
‘Taking the advantage of players’ crisis, girls from our national team are asking for excessively high salaries although they cannot even qualify for the second round of SAFF Championship,’ said Bachchu.
‘I know one club who are bringing three Indian national team players on a much lower salary. I believe the introduction of foreign players will give them an idea of the real world while it will also improve their quality since they will have to deal with the champions,’ said Bachchu.
-With New Age input
