'Saintfiet deal by 27th'
The cloud of uncertainty following the issue of appointing Belgian Tom Saintfiet as the head coach of Bangladesh national football team seems to have been snuffed out as the Nigerian Football Federation have appointed Frenchman Paul Le Guen.
The 43-year-old coach, had agreed in principle to take charge of the Bangladesh team ahead of their Asian Cup qualifying playoffs against Bhutan, but negotiations halted after his name appeared in the short-list of candidates for the post of Nigeria's head coach.
However, with the announcement of Le Guen's appointment on Monday night, the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) is free to sign Saintfiet for a three-month deal.
The Belgian has already conducted a six-day training camp of the preliminary squad of the national team.
“I am mentally totally free unless Real Madrid or Barcelona call me up tomorrow. I'm also happy to be here. I was always focused on my team. When I do something I commit fully,” said Saintfiet after having met with BFF president Kazi Salahuddin and National Team Committee (NTC) chairman Kazi Nabil Ahmed yesterday.
“After I return from Chittagong on July 26 having watched some of the matches of the league, I hope to sign the contract on the 27th of this month,” said Saintfiet.
“It's important for me to watch the league matches. I have 28 players in the camp now but I want to see all the rest and maybe I will select some completely new names for the national team. I think the players will look for this opportunity,” added the veteran coach.
Nabil then reiterated Saintfiet's thoughts and confirmed that the Belgian is to fly out on July 27 after signing the agreement. He will then return to watch the last round of the league matches in Dhaka before starting the camp for the Bhutan ties from August 21.
“We will sign a three-month contract by next Wednesday as we received the observation of his lawyer today. We will have directions on the short-term contract so that it could be turned into a long-term contract,” concluded Nabil.
Nabil also informed that the NTC has a plan of holding an away-practice match against Maldives on September 1, after which the team will return home and prepare for three days for the first-leg home match against Bhutan on September 6.
The training camp of the national team will start from August 21 and at that time the professional football league will remain suspended until the home match against Bhutan is completed.
Comments