The Professional League Committee of the Bangladesh Football Federation yesterday decided to start the Bangladesh Premier Football League from April 3, rejecting the proposal of the Executive Committee.
The Executive Committee previously proposed to kick the league off from March 9 as per their earlier decision taken about a month ago. But, the League Committee, comprising the representatives of the 11 top-flight clubs, decided to start the league following the AFC Under-23 Qualifiers.
The five-day Qualifiers, featuring Uzbekistan, India, Syria and hosts Bangladesh, will begin from March 27. Moreover, the Bangabandhu National Stadium will be occupied for the preparation of the Independence Day Parade right before the AFC U-23 Qualifiers.
The collision with the Indo-Bangladesh Bangla Games was also an option but it was learnt that the Games between the two Bangla speaking zones of Bangladesh and India will not be held in the first week of next month.
Abdus Salam Murshedy, Chairman of the League Committee, said the date was fixed as per the demand of the clubs. “All the clubs wanted an uninterrupted league. They all opposed playing two rounds of the league and going for a two-week break due to the AFC U-23 Qualifiers and also the Independence Day Parade. We hope to kick off the league from April 3.”
It was also learnt that the clubs demanded increment of the appearance money from Tk1m to Tk2.5m for all the participating teams.
Murshedy also added that the clubs have agreed to play the Independence Cup and the Super Cup after the conclusion of the league.