Deviating from its hard and fast rule, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Saturday sought plans from member countries with Covid-19-hit leagues to select clubs on their own for the AFC Cup 2021, sources in Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) said.

In a letter, the AFC also wanted to know what can be done under the rules and regulations of the governing body of Asian football and one of the six continental confederations within FIFA, they said.

The AFC move comes in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic that forced many countries to suspend their leagues on the halfway causing the barrier to pick club champions for representations in the tournament. 

 According to the AFC rule, only Federation Cup and league champion clubs of its member countries can play in the AFC Cup. 
Bashundhara Kings and Abahani Limited represented Bangladesh in the AFC Cup 2020 as then league and the Federation Cup champions respectively. 

But the outbreak of coronavirus resulted in enforced postponement of this year’s league just after the halfway of the first leg leaving the BFF in dilemma over the selection of the second team to represent Bangladesh in the AFC Cup 2021. 

Federation Cup champions Bashundhara Kings have already confirmed its berth as the first team to take part in the tournament.  
Meanwhile, Abahani have already been eliminated from the first round while Bashundhara played just one of their five outings with the remaining matches scheduled to be held in October and November. 

Talking to The Independent, BFF General Secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag said the AFC has already requested all the federations of their Member Associations (MA) to inform their respective condition under the special circumstances created by the Covid-19 pandemic.
As this is a special situation, the AFC has to make special decisions, he added, saying that like Bangladesh, many of the Asian countries could not complete or would not continue their league.
“Taking the reality into consideration, the AFC requested the countries to submit their proposals detailing what they want or what can they do under the rules and regulations,” Shohag said referring to the AFC letter. 

He further said the AFC will seek the teams’ names in November and notify by June-July for their licensing, which is a must for the participation in the AFC Cup.

About the BFF plan to select the second team, he said, “We will inform all our teams about the AFC licensing, and then have meetings with the interested teams and competition committee to select one. After board approval, we will send the name to AFC.” 

“We have already one team, Bashundhara Kings as Federation Cup champions. We will select the other team who will be able to fulfill all criteria and strong enough to compete in the competition,” Shohag said. 

MH