Elite Academy kick off BCL today

Bangladesh Championship League, the second-tier club competition of professional football in the country, will kick off today at the Birshreshtha Shaheed Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur.

Former Premier League outfit NoFeL Sporting Club will take on newcomers BFF Elite Academy in the opening match at 4:00pm while Fortis Football Club will square off against Gopalganj Sporting Club at 6:15pm. A total of 12 teams will take part in the BCL this season, with two teams earning promotion and two going down at the end of the league. However, BFF Elite Academy, one of the three newcomers will not be subject to promotion or relegation regardless of their final standing in the points table.

Abdus Salam Murshedy, league committee chairman, explained the reasoning behind this format yesterday.

"We have invested money and have given facilities to this academy to prepare players for the future. If they don't get to play professional football, then the pipeline to our national team will be damaged. So we have taken this decision to give these players a chance," Murshedy said.