BFF's latest U-turn

Less than 24 hours after having claimed that 'Bangladesh was close to hosting Nepal for two friendly matches', the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) yesterday made a complete U-turn and cancelled the proposed friendly matches without providing a satisfactory answer. 

After Nepalese media had reported that the All Nepal Football Association had announced a 21-member squad was already training for the two matches on July 15 and 17 in Dhaka, the BFF spokesman admitted to local media here on Saturday that there was substantial agreement on principle between the two federations regarding the matches, and that all that was left a final approval from the National Teams Committee.

But in a perplexing announcement on Sunday, both the BFF spokesman and the federation's president claimed that the matches have been cancelled owing to lack of preparation time after the Eid holidays. The reasoning is that the amount of fitness the vacationing players have lost during the holidays could not be gained back in three days of training.  While the argument is quite valid, it only shows the lack of wisdom on the part of the game's governing body, provided that the dates of the matches were agreed in principle during the Eid holidays.

While this is the official version, there are quite a few theories being thrown around as to the reason for cancelling the matches. One of those theories is that Bangladesh Premier League clubs are reluctant to release their players for the time being just ahead of the league, and the other theory is the inability to make security arrangements within a short time in the wake of the Gulshan attacks.

However, if the other theories are waved aside and the feeble excuse of fitness is to be believed, the incident only goes to show the lack of professionalism of the game's governing body in handling these issues, making itself and the whole of the media look like fools.