Camp starts sans 13

The national football team had its first training session for next month's Asian Cup qualifying play-offs at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday without 13 players as Chittagong Abahani refused to release six of their players while seven others were on their way back to the country after playing for Sheikh Jamal in the AFC Cup match in Philippines the night before.

Chittagong Abahani refused to release their players – Nasir Chowdhury, Yeamin Ahmed Munna, Raihan Hasan, Rubel Mia, Ashraful Islam Rana and Koushik Barua – citing that they have not received any letter from the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF).

“We will not release our players until we get an official letter from the federation. Who is the owner of these players? It is the club, not the federation. Who will take care of the players, if they sustain injuries or fall sick during the camp of the national team? The football federation has to come out of the traditional way. If they think they will do it in that traditional way, we can't let it be,” Chittagong Abahani's football committee chairman Tarafder Ruhul Amin told the Daily Star yesterday afternoon.

However, Amin later informed this reporter that they have released the players in the evening but none of those players joined the camp till the report was filed.

Defenders Kesto Kumar, Tapu Barman and Mohammad Linkon, goalkeeper Mazharul Islam Himel, midfielder Jewel Rana, Monaem Khan Raju are expected to join the camp today as they were supposed to return home yesterday night after their AFC Cup match in Philippines. Midfielder Jamal Bhuiyan is also supposed to return home today from Denmark.

Meanwhile, Chittagong Abahani, along with a few other clubs, also raised question about the appointment of the national team's manager [Satyajit Das Rupu], who is also manager of Dhaka Abahani, and urged the BFF to appoint a manager with no association with the clubs.

After conducting the first day's session, interim coach Saiful Bari Titu felt Bangladesh have the quality to do well against Tajikistan in both away and home match.

“Bangladesh are not a team to concede five goals to Tajikistan. We have to play against Tajikistan in two different strategies. If we can hold them in away match, then we can do anything at home but everything depends on how the players prepare as they went through ups and downs in the last few months under three different coaches,” said Titu informing that he would conduct training sessions in line with suggestions of Lodewijk de Kruif until the Dutchman arrives here.