A group of Bangladesh national women footballers, mainly the senior ones of the team, have taken a stance against their head coach Peter Butler Thursday.
The rift between the players and the English head coach is not new.
It was also reported back at the SAFF Women’s Championship in Nepal in October last year.
The Bangladesh Football Federation recently extended the contract of Butler for two more years, which did not go down well with the footballers.
“We talked against the coach many times but they didn’t take any step. It’s almost as if it is not a big matter. They prolonged his deal, but did not for once think why the girls are talking like this. They should sit with us and discuss the problem,” defender Masura Parvin told the media at BFF House, surrounded by other players.
The female footballers boycotted the training sessions under Butler for the last two days.
Skipper Sabina Khatun and forwards Sanjida Akhter and Ritu Porna Chakma were among others who talked to the reporters regarding the stance against Butler.
“We are in the camp for a long time. We stay like family,” said the winger Sanjida.
“If you don’t get mental peace in your family, how would you feel? Can you concentrate on your work? This happened to us. We aren’t well off mentally. How can we give 100% on the field?
“We informed that it’s not possible for us to work with him.”
The players also complained against Butler for making comments on and off the training sessions which they found to be “shameful” and “insulting.”
Ritu, adjudged the best player of the Saff Championship 2024 campaign, said: “We are adults. We have got personal lives. We have coffee and meet friends on rest days. This is normal. Some BFF officials informed this to the coach who later talked about these things on the field. He talked about personal stuff.
“He said this is why I don’t have concentration in training.”
Captain Sabina said: “We are professionals. We have to maintain professionalism. We don’t have to prove ourselves. We are complaining because there must be something wrong.
“There is no doubt he is a high-profile coach. He had a long playing career.”
She added: “We are not comfortable in this place.”
Sabina is the senior most player in the team, having captained Bangladesh for a decade.
“We want to sit with the BFF president (Tabith Awal). We don’t want so much noise for one issue. Football is the sport of our heart. Everyone loves football. We are not against it. We want the right solution,” said the skipper.
Sabina concluded that they have due respect for the coach and that he respects them too.
Butler could not be reached for his reaction despite repeated attempts.
When queried about the issue, BFF’s women’s wing committee chairman Mahfuza Akter Kiron told Dhaka Tribune that she would not make any comment until Sunday as they are working on it.