Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) kept its promise to keep the game on field for at least ten months every year but the partial domestic calendar (till December 2009) published for the season 2009-10 shows that the country's top footballers will get very little action in six months.
After the Super Cup, the three-week mega event which is expected to kick off March 6, the top booters will join national camp for preparation for next May's AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers in Dhaka.
Club commitment also ends in May after Abahani play the AFC President's Cup qualifiers also at home.
After just a handful of games in April and May, there would be no top-level domestic or international competitions in June-July when football goes indoors in shape of futsal (for Division 1 and II players only) due to the monsoon.
The 2009-10 season starts in October with the Federation Cup, which will be followed up by the third B. League in November.
BFF member and ex-general secretary Anwarul Hoque Helal, however, defended the schedule.
"We are going to give the footballers two months off: that would be June and July when the rains take control. With the transfer window opening in August, the teams will actually start preparation for the next season in the same month," said Helal yesterday.
"We think the players should be given at least two months to get fit again. So these two months are part of their active time," he opined.
The calendar's international part also did not include the proposed Bangladesh-Sri Lanka home and away football series, which was billed for next month.
"Yes, Sri Lanka were due to arrive here on March 15 to play two matches on March 17 and 19 after the Prime Minister's Cup in Nepal. But we cannot accommodate them at that time for the Super Cup," Helal informed.
"We have decided to cancel it and the Lankan federation will soon be informed of this. We don't know when we can plan the reciprocal tours because we both would be busy for the Challenge Cup.
"We have also decided to host an international tournament in November instead of December so the next B. League is not interrupted much. With the SAFF Championship scheduled for December, it would take more than four months to complete the B. League."
Helal informed that whether it would be a national or club competition depends on availability of the teams.
"We won't get the South Asians for the SAFF Championship. So it would be South East Asians or teams from the Asean, like Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Hong Kong or Singapore. If we can get those teams, it would also be a good preparation for us ahead of the SAFF."
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