Mohammedan still undecided

Mohammedan are surprisingly still mulling whether or not to participate in the season's curtain-raising Club Cup despite the Bangladesh Hockey Federation (BHF) having finalised the tournament's schedule with the participation of six clubs.

A total of 12 clubs had taken part in the inter-club players' transfers, which was held after two years, but only six teams  -- holders Abahani, league champions Dhaka Mariner Youngs Club, Sonali Bank, Police AC, Ajax SC and Victoria SC -- will feature in the Club Cup, which was last held in 2016 with the participation of all giants.

That has given rise to fears of a less competitive tournament akin to the 2014 edition when four clubs -- Mohammedan, Mariner Youngs, Bangladesh SC and Wari Club -- skipped the hockey season in protest of then BHF general secretary Khaza Rahmatullah.

This time around, Old Dhaka giants Usha KC have decided to stay away from hockey while Mohammedan did not confirm their participation for the first time in history despite having completed the players' transfers.

"Mohammedan were supposed to inform us about their participation on Thursday but they are hesitant to take part while a few other clubs are not playing because their players are yet to join up. That's why we have completed the fixtures with six teams. Besides, we will also have to start the league in the later part of this month," said league committee secretary Kazi Moinuzzaman Pila yesterday.

However, Mohammedan director Sarwar Hossain said that they are still in the process of deciding whether to take part in the Club Cup as they are having trouble assembling all their players.

"Of the 15 players we registered, four are from BKSP. But they are supposed to travel with the national team to take part in AHF U-16 Asia Cup in Thailand [April 25-29], so how can we play the tournament with only 11 players," questioned Sarwar.

"I can tell you about our participation in the Club Cup on Sunday after getting a reply from BKSP about those four players," said Sarwar. "The transfers ended on April 9 [actually April 7] and the tournament is going to start on April 15. How can a team participate in the tournament without training?"

Mohammedan started training from yesterday under the guidance for Moududur Rahman Shuvo.

BKSP chief hockey coach Zahid Hossain Raji however informed that Mohammedan had signed up four BKSP players, but only two were going to Thailand. He added that Abahani would miss three BKSP players and Mariner Youngs would miss two players as they were also part of the U-16 national team.

"Though we have not gotten official letters from the clubs, we are expecting to release the BKSP players, barring those who are going to play the Asia Cup [nine players] on Saturday or Sunday," said the BKSP coach.