Bangladesh has launched a week-long temporary Bangladesh Camp as part of preparations for the Women’s Asia Cup, scheduled to take place in Australia next March. The team held a morning fitness session under coach Lord Macron, where Swedish expatriate footballer Anika Rania Siddiqui joined the squad for training.
Anika, who holds a Bangladeshi passport, has already been registered on the AFC portal by the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF). If she clears a 10-day fitness and performance trial, she could travel with the squad to Thailand and Australia as part of the final Asia Cup preparations.
Sabina Exclusion Triggers Debate Over Bangladesh Selection Policy
While Anika earns a late trial opportunity, senior players, including former captain Sabina Khatun, Krishna Rani Sarkar, and Masura Parvee,n remain absent from the camp. This has sparked criticism from former national captain Zahid Hasan, who questioned the selection approach.
“𝑺𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒏𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑲𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒏𝒂 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒈𝒖𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒔𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔. 𝑬𝒙𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒎𝒖𝒎 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒑 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏,” 𝒁𝒂𝒉𝒊𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
He added that testing new players so close to the tournament while ignoring proven performers raised concerns over transparency and consistency in team selection.
Despite repeated media queries, head coach Peter Butler has yet to publicly clarify why senior players were left out of the Bangladesh Camp, as the team continues its build-up toward a crucial Asia Cup campaign.
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