Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Dhaka: Bangladeshi women’s football has rapidly grown since it started in 2003, the AFC Women’s Assistance Programme has found.
The AFC Women’s Assistance Programme Project Bangladesh kicked off with a visit to Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) Headquarters in the capital city from 23 to 26 June.
The AFC delegation, comprising Julie Teo, Head of AFC Women’s Development and Asako Takemoto, AFC Coaching Instructor and also AFC Women’s Coach of the Years 2013 and 2012, began the visit by meeting with top officials of the BFF.
The delegation saw that women’s football in Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) had shown rapid growth since it started in 2003 and gradually became more professionally organised by 2008. Its National Women’s Championships have seen the number of teams increase from 26 teams when they started in 2009 to 44 in the latest season.
BFF organised for the first time an U-15 girls’ championship last year which attracted 45 teams. This event had also convinced a sponsor, Plan, who will continue to support this event for another three years. Transcom Foods is another of BFF’s women’s football sponsors who supports the domestic women’s league.
The growth of women’s football and partnerships with sponsors was made possible through the influential leadership of the President of BFF, Kazi Md. Salahuddin; Chairperson of the BFF Women’s Committee, Sirajul Islam Bachchu and Deputy Chairperson of BFF Women’s Committee, Mahfuza Akhter Kiron, who is also Deputy Chairperson of AFC Women’s Committee. Salahuddin, a well-known former international, is fully supportive of women’s football in Bangladesh and is extremely pleased with its progress in the country.
“The AFC delegation was impressed with the number of girls playing football in the country as they were told that there are 64,000 primary schools in Bangladesh and each has an U-12 girls’ football team,” said Teo. “We were also impressed with the meaningful ways that BFF promote the game and organise girls’ events, inculcating values like empowerment of women, leadership qualities, reducing violence.
“With the success of the U-15 competition, from which 210 girls were selected to undergo training camps in preparation for the 2015 AFC U-16 Women’s Championship qualifiers this October, BFF is confident to target the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup finals.
“AFC WAP will assist and support BFF in its strategies to achieve this goal which includes the development of women coaches to promote the game to women in Bangladesh, improve its domestic competitions and establish its grassroots programmes.”