The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) yesterday asked its Professional Football League Committee (PFLC) to sit with the participating clubs of the Bangladesh Premier League in order to find an amicable solution to the issue regarding unpaid dues.

The local game's governing body held an emergency meeting of its executive committee yesterday after eight participating clubs threatened to boycott the upcoming BPL if their demands were not met by May 30.

The clubs -- Mohammedan SC, Sheikh Jamal DC, Chittagong Abahani, Brothers Union, Arambagh KS, Muktijoddha Sangsad KC, Team BJMC and Saif Sporting Club – had submitted a joint letter to the BFF demanding the unpaid grants they were supposed to receive last season.

According to a club official, BFF owed them around Tk 2.5 crore as participation money and prize money from the previous season. The club officials also demanded an increase in participation money from Tk 40 lakh to Tk 50 lakh and an increase in the prize money too. BFF general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag said the executive committee took the matter very seriously.

“We are very much concerned about the issue,” Shohag said. “The PFLC will sit for a meeting within the next few days where it will discuss the issue with the clubs.”

“We will try to convince the clubs by paying off dues from the previous year and talk about the participation money and prize money for this season. But we have to do it with the sponsorship money that we have. We have to accommodate all the expenses to run the league so the clubs need to accept the reality and our limitations.”

It may be mentioned here that the BFF sold the BPL's sponsorship rights to Saif Powertec Limited for five seasons for an annual amount of Tk four crore.