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Abahani, Russell in

Sports Reporter
Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has finally decided to give both Abahani Krira Chakra and Sheikh Russell Krira Chakra automatic qualifying berths for the second phase of the fourth National Football League.
The two sides were in the race to win the last of the four automatic qualifying spots. But to avoid any controversy, the game's governing body opened the door for both of them in its yesterday's executive committee meeting.
Dhaka sides Muktijoddha Sangsad and Mohammedan Sporting Club qualify as the defending champions and runners-up. The third qualifiers are Dhaka Premier League winners Brothers Union.
But the fourth automatic quali-
fying spot fell vacant after the holding of Federation Cup as it was Muktijoddha and Mohammedan again who finished champions and runners-up in the competition.
Abahani and Russell appeared into the scene as the losing Federation Cup semifinalists.
"As we did not stage the third-place play-off, we could not separate the two teams. The third team is supposed to qualify but we can not hold a play-off now," said BFF general secretary Anwarul Haque Helal after a marathon five-hour meeting.
"So, it would be sensible to allow both," said Helal admitting the BFF's failure to settle the issue duringthe Federation Cup.
The BFF, meanwhile, also opted to give direct entry to the champions of the Chittagong Premier League.
"Chittagong Mohammedan will be the sixth team to get direct entry," said Manzoor Hossain
Malu, BFF's deputy general secretary and secretary of the National Football League (NFL) Organising Committee.
"We considered the fact that Chittagong League is the second biggest competition of the country. They deserve an automatic place. To accommodate these six teams, we have decided to increase the number of teams to 12 from ten for the second phase. The Chittagong League runners-up will be eligible to play in the qualifying rounds," Malu said.
The NFL secretary informed that the teams would be able to register two foreigners and can also field two local guest footballers.
"However, the teams must submit a 25-member players list before the start of the qualifiers," he added.
The qualifiers start June 21.
Replying to a question, Malu said that the annual general meeting of the BFF will be held in the second week of August. He also said that there was no discussion in the meeting about the probecommittee report on the SAF Games debacle of the national team.
"We will have elaborate discussion on it in our next meeting."