BD clubs risk AFC Cup absence

Bangladesh may not have a representative in next year's AFC Cup unless one of the four eligible teams win the upcoming Federation Cup.

Bangladesh currently gets two spots in the second-tier club competition of Asia -- one direct spot into the group stages for the top-tier league champions of the most recent season and one spot into the qualifying rounds of the competition which goes to the most recent Federation Cup champions.

However, the deferment of this year's football calendar, which begins with the Federation Cup on October 27, means Bangladesh has already lost the direct spot.

“We had asked the AFC to consider two teams from last year's league, but the regional football's governing body declined our request,” Bangladesh Football Federation general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag said yesterday.

“So there will be only one team in the AFC Cup from Bangladesh next year and that will be the Federation Cup champions, given that the club has an AFC club license,” the BFF spokesman added.

Bangladesh were represented by last year's league champions Abahani and fourth-place finishers Saif SC in this year's AFC Cup. This year four clubs -- Abahani, Saif SC, Sheikh Russel KC and Bashundhara Kings -- have renewed their club licenses with the AFC.

In case any of the nine other participating teams of the Federation Cup go on to win the title, there will be no representative from Bangladesh next year, with the competition expected to begin in February.

BFF's senior vice-president Abdus Salam Murshedy has said that the rescheduling of the football calendar was made to align itself with the international calendar. “We saw in the past that our football calendar conflicted with the international one, causing problems to clubs and international engagements. The monsoon season was also another consideration in this regard. But now that we have fixed this once, we hope that this system will be carried forward from this year onwards.”