In 2006, the journey of professional football league officially started in Bangladesh. But even after so many days, the impression of professionalism did not fall on the country’s football in that sense. There is no set season schedule, number of clubs, or any specific schedule for a change of team. There are many examples of postponing the match even a few hours before the match. All in all, the professional football league is just a name, the clubs are running according to their own whims.
This was reflected in the list of club licenses of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The AFC has released a list of clubs licensed by the AFC for 2022. The misery of the professionalism of the clubs of Bangladesh has come to light there. Only two clubs from Bangladesh have been cleared to play in the 2022 AFC Cup, the lowest among South Asian nations. The Maldives also has only two clubs on the list.
Only Bashundhara Kings and Abahani Limited from Bangladesh have been able to meet the criteria of AFC. Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club will not be able to play in the AFC Cup play-off despite being runners-up in the latest Premier League due to failure to get a license. Abahani will now play in that place even after becoming the third.
Most of the clubs in the country are not interested in fulfilling most of the conditions. In addition, the clubs are often unable to submit the required documents due to lack of skilled manpower to know football management. Clubs from other countries in South Asia are ahead in this place. 13 clubs from Sri Lanka, 4 from Bhutan and 3 from India and Nepal have received AFC Cup licenses. The eyes of the clubs playing in India’s ISL are, of course, now in the AFC Champions League. So the second tier clubs applied for the AFC Cup license from India.
Like India, clubs from many neighboring countries of Bangladesh are now eyeing the AFC Champions League. The next step is the big clubs of Bangladesh who failed to fulfill the conditions of playing in the AFC Cup. Sheikh Jamal’s manager Anwarul Karim Helal said, “We could not submit the documents on time.” The club withdrew from the AFC Cup once before.
Traditional clubs like Mohammedan have also failed to meet AFC standards. Manager Imtiaz Ahmed Naqib explained, “We have submitted 80 per cent of the documents. In fact, it takes a lot of money to meet that standard. ”
There is no concern about Sheikh Russell’s money under the patronage of Bashundhara for several years. But that effect is not noticeable on the playground. Although they got the license last year, this time they failed. Saleh Zaman Selim, the club’s sports director, claimed: “We have not been able to focus on these in building a good team this year.
