Two of Bangladesh women’s football’s biggest names—Sabina Khatun and Masura Parveen—have been left out of the national football team camp by head coach Peter Butler. As a result, the senior duo has joined the women’s futsal camp, where Krishna and Sumaiya are also training, since they were not invited to the main football camp.
Thailand is preparing to host the SAFF Men’s and Women’s Futsal Championships from January 13–26. While the men’s futsal team recently competed in the Asian qualifiers, the women’s side had no activity for over six years. To rebuild the squad, the federation held open trials to form a preliminary camp.
BFF Futsal Committee chairman Imranur Rahman said,
“𝑺𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒚 𝒇𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 25 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒋𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒑. 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑫 𝑩𝒐𝒙 𝒊𝒏 𝑴𝒊𝒓𝒑𝒖𝒓.”
Sabina and Masura impressed in the trials and earned their places. Masura expressed no hesitation about joining the futsal setup despite her seniority in the national football team, saying,
“𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒔 — 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒃 𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎. 𝑾𝒆’𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕.”
Nasrin’s Team Faces Turmoil Ahead of SAFF Women’s Football Club Championship
The federations’ futsal program continues to grow, with Iranian coach Saeed’s contract extended until the SAFF Championship in January. Two female coaching staff—including an assistant and a goalkeeper coach—will join from Tehran.
Sabina previously captained Bangladesh in the 2018 Women’s Asian Cup Futsal Qualifiers in Thailand, and she, along with Sumaiya, has participated multiple times in the Maldives Futsal League.
Meanwhile, preparations for the SAFF Women’s Club Championship in Kathmandu, starting December 5, have been chaotic. Bangladesh Women’s League champion Nasrin will represent the country, but faced hurdles while selecting her preferred teammates. Although she wanted Rituparna and Rupna, the federation and coach rejected the request.
Because national team camp players were not permitted to join, senior footballers Sabina, Masura, and Krishna opted not to play for Nasrin. Another senior player outside the national camp, Sanjida Akhter, has been appointed captain of Nasrin’s team.
Nasrin is scheduled to fly out on Wednesday evening, yet neither the club nor the federation has released the official squad list. Sources suggest that several U-17 and U-20 players—Alpi, Preeti, Arpita, and others—will join her. Surprisingly, the players have not trained together, even though the tournament is knocking at the door.
Although the team carries Nasrin’s name, it is widely known to be operated under Mahfuza Akhter Kiran, head of the BFF Women’s Wing.
After completing the tri-nation series, the national team players will receive a short break before regrouping in Chittagong. The federation plans to arrange a training camp in Malaysia, along with a few warm-up matches.
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