Jamal-Hamzara are playing in the Asian Cup qualifiers. The draw for the Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers was held today at the Asian Football Confederation headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Bangladesh has been placed in Group C.
34 teams are participating in the Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers. There are four teams in six groups and five teams in two groups. The winners of the eight groups will participate in the main stage to be held from March 1-26 next year. The current Asian champions China and two other top countries Korea and Japan will play directly in the main stage.
The host of Bangladesh’s group is Myanmar. The qualifying matches will be held from June 23 to July 5. The other two opponents in this group are Bahrain and Turkmenistan. The main obstacle for Bangladesh in its bid to become the group champion is Myanmar. Although Bangladesh played in the main stage of Asia twice in a row in 2017 and 2019 at the U-16 level, the senior team has never had a chance to play.
The BFF did not send the SAFF champion women’s team to Myanmar to play in the 2023 Olympic qualifiers. The federation came under severe criticism for not sending the Sabinas, citing financial reasons. This time, the Asian Cup qualifiers have fallen to Myanmar.
Bangladesh will start preparing for the Asian Cup qualifiers from the first week of April. The BFF has called 55 footballers to the camp after Eid. Even if the Sabinas are called to the camp, the conflict over whether they will practice under Peter Butler or whether Butler will also train some of them has not yet been resolved.
