Mithun inclusion kicks up a row

Before departing for Korea, the defence was an area of concern for the Bangladesh U-23 football team and Dutch coach Lodewijk de Kruif watched the defenders, sans injured Atiqur Rahman Meshu, struggle while conceding four goals against Vietnam in a preparation match for the Asian Games.
The defeat against Vietnam has helped the Bangladesh side find the loopholes in the backline without Meshu and de Kruif has now begun working to repair the defence line before going into the real battle against Afghanistan on September 15.
With the help of video footage of the Bangladesh-Vietnam friendly, the Dutch coach has tried to rectify the mistakes made during the match.
Team manager Amirul Islam Babu informed over phone that the players skipped training yesterday following the previous day's match but they still went to the gymnasium.
Babu also informed that injured Meshu would return home Friday night and his replacement, striker Mithun Chowdhury, would go to Korea, subject to the clearance of the game's organising committee.
"We have already sent Mithun's name as a replacement for Meshu to the Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA), who will confirm the replacement officially," said Bangladesh Football Federation general secretary Abu Nayeem.
"Though BOA officials verbally told me that Mithun might not be considered as he was not in the 30-member preliminary squad, I saw nothing to deter him from participating according to the rules of the event," said Shohag.
The question of why a striker should replace a defender was raised but the Dutch coach decided to include Mithun as one of three senior players in the team.
Mithun's club, Sheikh Russel KC, is not happy with coach's decision and the club officials argued with the BFF officials yesterday as they are set to take part in the AFC President's Cup starting from September 20 in Colombo.