YEARLY FOOTBALL OVERVIEW

Lacklustre year for Bangladesh football

Casino slur on Premier Division football clubs

Last year was not exactly memorable for the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) as it did not achieve any big success despite showing some early promises. The national football team won a bronze medal in the 13th SA Games and performed well in World Cup Qualifying matches in 2019.

Bangladesh football, which saw the worst in 2017 with the FIFA ranking of 197, had witnessed a slightly improved performance in 2018. The national team moved into the second round of the Asian Games defeating Qatar. However, they managed four wins and two draws out of their nine international matches in 2019.

The national football team began the year by winning a FIFA friendly match against Cambodia in May. But they finished the year woefully—they went down to Bhutan and Nepal, won only against Sri Lanka, and drew another to get the bronze medal in the SA Games.

The national team won two FIFA friendly matches against Bhutan at home ground in October by margins of 4-1 and 2-0, but they suffered a solitary goal defeat against Bhutan in the SA Games.

Before the SA Games, the national team had played four matches of the World Cup 2022 qualifying round but did not win any of them. They lost to Afghanistan by 1-0 in Tajikistan. In home ground, they conceded 2-0 defeat to Qatar and went down to Oman 4-1 in the away match. They drew 1-1 against India in Kolkata. Despite three defeats out of four matches, the performances against Afghanistan, Qatar, and India was very impressive. All this, however, went in vain after the failure in the SA Games.

However, there were some satisfactory results for Bangladeshi clubs at the international level: Abahani Limited moved into the second round as group champion in the qualifying phase of the AFC Cup.

Abahani had their best ever performance in the AFC Cup when they moved into the inter-zonal semifinal by winning four matches and drawing one. They conceded only one defeat out of their six matches in the qualifying round. They were closer to move into the inter-zonal finals, but they lost the away match despite winning the home match by 4-3 against April 25 Sports Club of North Korea. By virtue of a better goal difference, the North Korean club moved into final and finally won the title.

However, the BFF failed to keep up its image due to failure in the SA Games. Even though it ran an academy for Under-16 and Under-14 age groups, it failed in the talent hunt programmes and could not produce sufficient soccer players.

In women's football, the BFF had a bit of a success. In the Under-16 AFC tournament, Bangladesh stormed into the final round after demolishing Philippines by 10-0 and defeating Myanmar by 1-0. They, however, lost to China by 3-0. In the final round, the team conceded defeats to host Thailand by 1-0 and went down to Japan by 9-0. It played a creditable 2-2 draw against Australia in September.

However, the national women's team was eliminated from the group stage after losing to Nepal (3-0) and India (4-0). The team, however, defeated Bhutan by 2-0 in the first match of the group stage.

The BFF also faced huge criticism after it did not send the women's national team to the SA Games in Nepal. The team had a good chance of winning at least the silver or bronze medal.

Meanwhile, Chittagong Abahani Limited must deserve accolades for organising Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup Football Tournament in Chattogram from October 18-31 after the BFF deferred the Bangabandhu Gold Cup football tournament. As many as eight teams participated in it.        

The BFF also faced a huge challenge from the Bangladesh District and Divisional Football Association when the latter protested against the incumbent executive committee of the BFF alleging financial irregularities. The federation drew flak for the national team’s failure.

The District and Divisional Football Association also protested against the BFF's inability to hold the annual general meeting every year. The meeting was held after an interval of three years.

The District and Divisional Football Association organised several meetings round the year in different venues across the country to evaluate the BFF's activities.     

Meanwhile, the casino controversy tarnished the image of some Bangladesh Premier Division clubs like the Mohammedan Club, Arambagh KS, and Muktijoddha KC.  Mohammedan Sporting Club and Arambagh, in particular, faced huge trouble.

In the domestic competition, Bashundhara Kings, which had a World Cup booter (Costa Rica) of 2018, won the Federation Cup runners-up trophy and stunned all by winning the league title by outshining the traditional giants.

YEARLY FOOTBALL OVERVIEW

Lacklustre year for Bangladesh football

Casino slur on Premier Division football clubs

Last year was not exactly memorable for the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) as it did not achieve any big success despite showing some early promises. The national football team won a bronze medal in the 13th SA Games and performed well in World Cup Qualifying matches in 2019. Bangladesh football, which saw the worst in 2017 with the FIFA ranking of 197, had witnessed a slightly improved performance in 2018. The national team moved into the second round of the Asian Games defeating Qatar. However, they managed four wins and two draws out of their nine international matches in 2019. The national football team began the year by winning a FIFA friendly match against Cambodia in May. But they finished the year woefullythey went down to Bhutan and Nepal, won only against Sri Lanka, and drew another to get the bronze medal in the SA Games. The national team won two FIFA friendly matches against Bhutan at home ground in October by margins of 4-1 and 2-0, but they suffered a solitary goal defeat against Bhutan in the SA Games. Before the SA Games, the national team had played four matches of the World Cup 2022 qualifying round but did not win any of them. They lost to Afghanistan by 1-0 in Tajikistan. In home ground, they conceded 2-0 defeat to Qatar and went down to Oman 4-1 in the away match. They drew 1-1 against India in Kolkata. Despite three defeats out of four matches, the performances against Afghanistan, Qatar, and India was very impressive. All this, however, went in vain after the failure in the SA Games. However, there were some satisfactory results for Bangladeshi clubs at the international level: Abahani Limited moved into the second round as group champion in the qualifying phase of the AFC Cup. Abahani had their best ever performance in the AFC Cup when they moved into the inter-zonal semifinal by winning four matches and drawing one. They conceded only one defeat out of their six matches in the qualifying round. They were closer to move into the inter-zonal finals, but they lost the away match despite winning the home match by 4-3 against April 25 Sports Club of North Korea. By virtue of a better goal difference, the North Korean club moved into final and finally won the title. However, the BFF failed to keep up its image due to failure in the SA Games. Even though it ran an academy for Under-16 and Under-14 age groups, it failed in the talent hunt programmes and could not produce sufficient soccer players. In womens football, the BFF had a bit of a success. In the Under-16 AFC tournament, Bangladesh stormed into the final round after demolishing Philippines by 10-0 and defeating Myanmar by 1-0. They, however, lost to China by 3-0. In the final round, the team conceded defeats to host Thailand by 1-0 and went down to Japan by 9-0. It played a creditable 2-2 draw against Australia in September. However, the national womens team was eliminated from the group stage after losing to Nepal (3-0) and India (4-0). The team, however, defeated Bhutan by 2-0 in the first match of the group stage. The BFF also faced huge criticism after it did not send the womens national team to the SA Games in Nepal. The team had a good chance of winning at least the silver or bronze medal. Meanwhile, Chittagong Abahani Limited must deserve accolades for organising Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup Football Tournament in Chattogram from October 18-31 after the BFF deferred the Bangabandhu Gold Cup football tournament. As many as eight teams participated in it. The BFF also faced a huge challenge from the Bangladesh District and Divisional Football Association when the latter protested against the incumbent executive committee of the BFF alleging financial irregularities. The federation drew flak for the national teams failure. The District and Divisional Football Association also protested against the BFFs inability to hold the annual general meeting every year. The meeting was held after an interval of three years. The District and Divisional Football Association organised several meetings round the year in different venues across the country to evaluate the BFFs activities. Meanwhile, the casino controversy tarnished the image of some Bangladesh Premier Division clubs like the Mohammedan Club, Arambagh KS, and Muktijoddha KC. Mohammedan Sporting Club and Arambagh, in particular, faced huge trouble. In the domestic competition, Bashundhara Kings, which had a World Cup booter (Costa Rica) of 2018, won the Federation Cup runners-up trophy and stunned all by winning the league title by outshining the traditional giants.