Since Hamza Chowdhury’s arrival, one expatriate footballer after another is joining Bangladesh football. Shomit Shome and Fahamedul Islam are now among the Red-and-Greens’ stars. Seeing them, expatriate footballers in Europe and America are dreaming of wearing the Bangladesh jersey. Several players of Bangladeshi origin have already joined the age-group teams. Ahead of the SAF Championship in Dhaka this November, up to five more expatriate footballers could feature in the Bangladesh side.
With the September FIFA window and the SAF Championship ahead, the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has moved to add expatriate players. Two are largely finalised: the BFF is awaiting the necessary FIFA and AFC clearance for UK-based winger Farhan Ali and forward Zayan Hakim, and the formalities for the two to become Bangladeshi could be completed within days. Of three more footballers, two are from England and one from Japan, BFF vice-president Fahad Karim said. The federation is waiting to see whether the coach calls them for trials, which is why Fahad Karim did not want to reveal the three names yet. “How many of the five expatriates the coach takes in the final SAF Championship squad is his prerogative. But I can say these five will be in the BFF camp,” he said.
Last year the BFF held a trial in Dhaka for expatriate footballers from Europe and America, with about 50 taking part, but the federation did not find many players from it. So this time it is taking a different route, with Fahad Karim wanting to hold trials in a European country rather than in Dhaka. “Next summer I want to hold a trial in a European country. I’ll discuss it with the president. I’ve already spoken to the coach about it, and he is very keen,” he said.
The idea of holding trials in Europe is so that expatriates are not financially hurt, the vice-president said. “Most of our applications are coming from Europe. We won’t pay them anything to come to Bangladesh for a trial, and we can’t say who will make it. We’ve seen that many won’t or can’t come at their own expense; many come at their own expense but don’t make it, and then give us a bad name for not selecting them after they travelled so far. So we’ll hold it in London or wherever most expatriates come from, so they aren’t financially hurt.”
The BFF wants to use the September window ahead of the SAF Championship, and is considering two options: playing a tri-nation tournament in Kyrgyzstan or hosting a four-nation event in Dhaka. Coach Thomas Dooley wants to play matches in Dhaka. Besides hosts Bangladesh, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia are confirmed for the four-nation tournament, and the BFF is trying to finalise one more country.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report