Mohammedan seek release of nine players, fixture changes

Mohammedan SC have asked the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) to release their nine national team players from the training camp by today, citing a scheduling conflict between national-team commitments and the upcoming Bangladesh Football League (BFL).

The club also requested the BFF to reschedule their BFL and Federation Cup matches scheduled for September 25 and 29 respectively.

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The requests came a day after the BFF released the schedules for the professional league and Federation Cup. The BFL is set to begin on September 18, with five matches on the opening day and one on September 19.

Mohammedan, however, do not have a fixture in the opening round. The Federation Cup will begin on September 22 with three matches.

Mohammedan are yet to begin their pre-season camp, while nine of their players -- Anisur Rahman Zico, Sujan Hossain, Shakil Ahad Topu, Saad Uddin, Rahmat Mia, Sohel Rana Jr, Shahriar Emon, Faisal Ahmed Fahim and Sourav Dewan -- are currently preparing with the national team for the upcoming FIFA ASEAN Cup in Indonesia from September 24 to October 5.

The BFF had previously informed the clubs that they would have to participate in the professional league and Federation Cup without their national-team players. Mohammedan had agreed to comply with FIFA regulations and release their players during the designated international windows.

However, in a letter to BFF general secretary Emran Hossain on Monday, Mohammedan said the BFL schedule had not been finalised when they released the nine players.

“With the intention of supporting the schedule set for Bangladesh national team and as a gesture of goodwill, Mohammedan SC immediately released its nine players for national training camp upon receiving the call,” the letter said.

“At that time, the BFL schedule was not finalised; therefore, we had no information, but we need our players for the official BFL matches starting on September 18. As the schedule will directly impact our club’s participation in the upcoming league, we request you to release our nine players who have been in the national camp by September 15.”

The club also reiterated its willingness to release the players during FIFA windows.

“We fully understand and respect the importance of the national team’s programme. At the same time, we are committed to releasing our players during FIFA’s designated international windows,” the letter said.

“The finalisation of the BFL schedule has created an unavoidable scheduling conflict. To avoid future scheduling conflicts, we also request a reconsideration of our scheduled BFL and Federation Cup matches on September 25 and 29 respectively.”

The Daily Star contacted BFF general secretary Emran Hossain for comment, but he did not respond.