Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet is interested in taking charge of the Bangladesh football team as the head coach. The post has been vacant ever since the departure of Dutch head coach Lodewijk de Kruif, whose temporary reign came to an end earlier this month.
Saintfiet, who has vast coaching experience in African football, is now in the capital city. He arrived on Thursday morning and watched the first semi-final of the Federation Cup between Arambagh Krira Sangha and Team BJMC at Bangabandhu National Stadium in the afternoon.
The 43-year old coach is now interested to work in Asia and said he has followed Bangladesh football closely for a while.
The Belgian is now a free agent after working as Togo head coach for 11 months, which was his last job. He however, has not had any official contact with the Bangladesh Football Federation as of yet.
“I am yet to speak to anyone regarding the contract. I am here to watch some matches of the tournament and I will talk to the president (Kazi Salahuddin) about football and after that, may be there will be an opportunity to come as the national team coach. It is too early to say anything,” said Saintfiet.
He continued, “There are several reasons to wish to be the coach of Bangladesh. Bangladesh have much more potential to show. The last results of Bangladesh in regional competitions may be not as good as the 2003 Saff Championship. The results of 2010 and 2012 were also not good. But Bangladesh have quality.
“I would like to come here to change the team and bring some good results as well as qualify for the Asian Cup Qualifiers. So for me, I have good name in Africa and the Middle East, in terms of results. I would also want to make a good name in Bangladesh. Bangladesh could be a good option at that.”
The Uefa pro-licensed coach has a notable resume. He managed national teams like Togo, Malawi, Yemen, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Namibia and the Qatar Under-17 team and worked as a club coach in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. But he never managed a country for more than a year.
“There was certain reasons as to why my contracts with those teams were not long-term. I was appointed in Malawi for only one match. I got a five-month contract with Ethiopia. I was never fired but there were small contracts with the teams. I was too young so I was ambitious to change the jobs,” he explained.
Saintfiet met BFF president Salahuddin and the other top officials on Thursday and is likely to stay in the capital till this Monday.
Monday, March 17, 2025
