SPORTS REPORTER

Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) president Tabith Awal will make a call on the report prepared by a seven-member special committee regarding the ongoing impasse over women’s football team’s camp, even though it is uncertain whether the president will declare the findings of the report today or will take more time before making it public.

BFF’s senior vice-president and head of the probe committee Imrul Hassan on Thursday night told reporters that they had forwarded the report to the president, who he said would either discuss it with the executive committee or will himself take a decision on delivering the verdict on the feud between 18 senior players and the head coach Peter Butler.

Hassan also said that discipline was the key factor in considering the recommendations made in the report while acknowledging the contribution of the players in bringing success for the nation.

The Daily Star tried to reach Tabith, also a politician and a businessman, for a comment but he did not answer the calls and the text messages.

The 18 senior players led by captain Sabina Khatun have been boycotting the national team’s training camp since Butler took over the camp on January 29 after returning from the UK. The senior players, who had a public rift with the coach during last year’s successful title defence of SAFF Women’s Championship, blamed the coach of driving a wedge among the players, of bodyshaming them and of questioning their personal lives. They also threatened to retire en masse if the Englishman was not removed from the job. Butler, meanwhile, has publicly announced that he would not stay in charge if the boycotting players were brought back into the camp.

The Daily Star contacted a number of members of the special committee, who interviewed 30 squad members as well as the coach before preparing the recommendation report. And the common impression from them is that a middle-ground might be reached.

A member of the special committee told The Daily Star that the BFF president will sit with both the players and the coach before making a final call on the issue.

“It’s not matter of leniency or strictness. It’s a matter of well-being of women football in general and of course of our women footballers. Hence I believe whatever our president will decide, will be best for football,” said Fahad Karim, a member of the committee and a BFF vice-president.

Sayeed Hasan Kanon, a former national team player and member of the committee, said he believed no harsh measures will be taken for the good of women’s football.

“These girls are our national asset. They have done a lot for the country,” Kanon said. “They may have done something wrong and breached discipline which they shouldn’t have. But we are considerate about them. We don’t want the careers of these girls spoilt.”

With both parties seemingly rigid in their stance and with two important international matches lined up later this month, this is the first real challenge for Tabith as the president of the federation. And only a sensible and accommodating approach from him might help him and the country’s football overcome the challenge.