Clubs against lengthy league
Most of the title contenders for the upcoming Bangladesh Premier League are seemingly in favour of shortening the time frame of the league, seeking a couple of days to submit their observations on the draft fixture.
Having prepared the draft fixture of the 11th edition of the league -- scheduled to start on January 18 and finish on August 10 -- the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) asked the clubs to send their observations by yesterday. However, only NoFeL Sporting Club sent their observations, requesting the game's local governing body to start the league from February 1.
Big clubs such as Bashundhara Kings, Saif SC, Sheikh Jamal DC, Chittagong Abahani sought a couple of more days for observation while Abahani, Sheikh Russel KC and Rahmatganj MFS want to discuss the matter at the next meeting of the professional football league committee.
The league was supposed to get underway from November 30 at eight separate venues across the country, but BFF held the Independence Cup instead of the league in December due to the national election on December 30. According to the new draft fixture, the 13-team league will span nearly seven months including the monsoon as there are only three days reserved in a week for matches, with each team getting one match per week.
Most of the title aspirants are seemingly against long duration of the league due mostly to two reasons: avoiding monsoon and not incurring additional expenditure for keeping foreign players, who have been signed up till July.
It may be mentioned here that BFF had allowed for nearly eight months' break for the start of the current season in a bid to avoiding monsoon.
“We are against a lengthy season. We also want foreign referees conducting matches and not allowing BFF executive members at the dugout,” said Bashundhara Kings manager BA Jubair Nipu.
“There is a big gap between two fixtures due to which it will take the league more time to be completed. The expenditure of the club will increase as we have to travel a lot and the club will need at least five-six lakh taka for each away match,” said Sheikh Jamal DC manager Anwarul Karim Helal, who wants reduction of the time between two fixtures and avoiding monsoon.
“Basically, we don't have any objection but we are worried about the rainy season when it gets tough for players to perform and they risk injuries on muddy pitches,” said Chittagong Abahani manager Arman Aziz. He also informed that they would not be able to play at their home venue -- MA Aziz Stadium in Chattagram -- due to the venue's unavailability, but BFF kept the venue in its draft fixture.
“We will raise our points at the next meeting but we want good amount of break between our AFC Cup fixtures and league fixtures. I think the clubs need proper recovery time for playing a home-and-away basis league,” said Abahani manager Satyajit Das Rupu.
Sheikh Russel KC's director-in-charge Saleh Jamal Selim and Rahmatganj MFS general secretary Imtiaz Hamid Sabuz said that they were busy with national election and that they would discuss the matter at the league committee meeting.