'BFF had no intention to send women's team to Olympic Qualifiers'

Bangladesh women's football team are not participating in the first round of the Asian qualifiers matches of the Paris Olympics 2024 due to "financial constraints."

The team is not in a position to participate in the Olympic qualifiers despite taking all the preparations as the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) could not arrange the money for the team's airfare, accommodation, transport, and insurance fee.

Now Zahid Ahsan Russel, State Minister for the Ministry of Youth and Sports, criticised the BFF, saying that they had "no intention" to send the women's team to Olympic Qualifiers. 

"I think they [BFF] had no intention to send the women's team to the Olympic Qualifiers. That's why they staged a blame game," Russel told reporters at the Ministry headquarters today.

"Initially they blamed us [the ministry]. They said they couldn't send the team because the ministry didn't sanction the money. But before that, they never asked us for money. We received a letter on 27 March where they said they needed Tk92 lakh by 31 March. But a day later, they announced that they were unable to send the team because of financial constraints," he said.

"That was intentional. They did everything hurriedly - sending the letter and then deciding not to send the team. They must have known everything three to six months before. I think there is something else. We are investigating this. I have informed the Prime Minister of this as well."