Kiron discloses mega plan for women's football

The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has outlined a preliminary plan to arrange at least six international matches for the Bangladesh women's football team as part of their preparation for next year's AFC Women's Asian Cup in Australia. Among the fixtures, two friendlies against Thailand are scheduled for October.

Mahfuza Akter Kiron, chairperson of the BFF women's committee and a member of the BFF executive committee, revealed the plan during an informal briefing with select media representatives at the BFF House yesterday.

Kiron previously stated that preparations for the women's team were initially scheduled to begin in early September. However, the residential training camp has been postponed by two weeks and is now set to start in mid-September, once head coach Peter Butler returns to Dhaka from England.

"We are going to begin the training camp for the senior women's team along with the U-20 squad, and the players will be accommodated in a hotel or resort rather than the BFF dormitory," Kiron said.

BFF women’s wing chairman Mahfuza Akhter Kiron. Photo: STAR file

Following the September training camp, the team will play two friendly matches against Thailand during the October international window. On 30 October, the squad will travel to Japan for an intensive three-week training camp, where the players will focus solely on physical and tactical preparation without any scheduled matches.

Kiron, who is also an AFC executive member, confirmed that BFF plans to utilise the FIFA windows in November and December by hosting a tri-nation tournament in Dhaka involving Vietnam and Azerbaijan.

"If we are unable to organise the tri-nation series, we will still arrange two international friendlies against another national team," Kiron said. She added that discussions are also underway with New Zealand Football to potentially schedule two more matches against the New Zealand women's team in February. These would follow a training camp in January.

"If the matches in New Zealand go ahead, we will travel directly to Australia for the Asian Cup. Otherwise, we will arrange matches against other countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, or Hong Kong en route to Australia," she said.

"This is the current plan for the senior women's team -- six international matches and a training camp in Japan. Some players from the U-20 squad will have the opportunity to join the senior team, while separate matches for the U-20 team are also being arranged as part of their preparation for the AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup, scheduled for April in Thailand," Kiron added.

She also announced the launch of a more competitive Women's Football League starting on 15 December, with the inclusion of stronger teams and at least one prominent corporate sponsor.

Responding to a query about funding, Kiron said, "I have discussed the financial aspects and overall preparation plan with BFF President Tabith Awal, who assured me there would be no issues regarding funding."