Senior female footballers skip training session under Coach Butler

Agency :

Some senior female footballers on Thursday skipped the national team’s training session under reappointed English Coach Peter Butler ahead of their upcoming FIFA friendly matches in February-March. They also gave threat to mass retire from the football.

Bangladesh national women’s football team comprising 30 players started their preparation under assistant coach Mahbubur Rahman Litu from January 15 at the BUET ground as part of their preparation for two FIFA friendlies against hosts UEA on Feb 26 and March 2.

Butler joined the camp yesterday after returning from England on Monday night but the senior footballers skipped the training after refusing to sit in a meeting with Butler on Tuesday.

None of the senior players, however, could be contacted. But it was learned that the players also demanded to renew their contracts which came to an end in October last year.

There has been a rift between senior players and Butler since the English coach opted to bench a few of them for a match against Pakistan in last year’s SAFF Women’s Championship. After an underwhelming result in that game, Butler included the senior players in the following games and the women in red and green went on to regain the title.

Later, Butler also told the media that he had no problem with the senior players as he always wanted to bring a competitive environment to the squad and he was ready to work with Bangladesh women’s football team.

Thus, BFF reappointed Butler as the women’s football team coach for the next two years.
“I am working on this matter [dispute between players and the coach] and I can’t tell you anything more at the moment until tomorrow,” BFF women’s committee chairman and BFF Executive Committee Member Mahfuza Akter Kiron told a leading daily yesterday.

Asked whether they sat with the senior players before reappointing Butler following the dispute, Kiron said, “It is better to ask the BFF president about this because the BFF president reappointed Butler.”

BFF President Tabith Awal, also a political and business person, is currently in London.