Chittagong Abahani Limited footballers will have only 10 days in total for training to prepare for the Bangladesh Premier League 2024-25, kicking off Friday, and that too without a penny in their pockets amid sheer uncertainty over the future.
The respective persons said the preparation is nowhere near the minimum requirement for the top-flight league, and the club seem to have no choice.
To add to the worries, the port city outfit will face premier league champions and reigning treble winners Bashundhara Kings in their very first match on the inaugural day.
It will be held at the home venue of the indomitable Kings with the visitors going into the tie as sheer underdogs with very little preparation.
With no agreement on payment, the footballers have been grafting hard with mostly two practice sessions daily in a race to be fit for the opening clash.
"The team (Chittagong Abahani) began training on November 18. Except last Friday, they trained every day. It’s not enough," the club's technical adviser and former national forward Jahid Hasan Ameli told Dhaka Tribune.
"It is not sufficient to prepare for the big league. It's nothing. There should have been at least one month of training before the competition."
Ameli also said he had never gone through such a situation - lack of preparation prior to the league – as player during his 20-year long career.
He put down the club's recent struggles in forming the squad in the eleventh hour of transfer window to financial and organizational issues.
"There was doubt over forming the team due to zero funds. Players sacrificed their wages just to compete in the league rather than sitting out," said Ameli.
The club entered choppy waters after the fall of Awami League government on August 5 with the transfer window looming on the horizon.
Chittagong Abahani survived the dark days thanks to former star national footballers like Ameli and Mamunul Islam who came forward to save the club.
"As a resident of Chittagong and as a footballer, I felt the urge to do something for the club. But the players deserve the credit as they wanted to play without money," Mamunul, former Bangladesh captain, told Dhaka Tribune.
Chittagong Abahani skipper Towhidul Alam Sabuj said: “The training was supposed to begin at least three weeks earlier. Now we have to put in double shifts. Time is very short. We are still not in a position to play a competitive match.”
The statement came less than two days before facing the champions.
Sabuj played for the Kings in the last six years before returning to his former club this season.
“Condition is bad. There is no time for recovery. I’m expecting us to struggle at the beginning due to lack of preparation,” said Sabuj, the experienced striker.
Sabuj admitted that they have not received a single penny.
He also said this is the first time in the past 15 years that they have started a league without getting money from the club.
He added: “An entire season without a game is detrimental for a player who gets left behind. That is why the players agreed to play without contracts. Every footballer needs money.”
Mamunul and Ameli said they along with the club's director and manager Taher Ul Alam Chowdhury arranged money from various sources and personal collections to help the club survive and keep it moving somehow.
"Thanks to the players as we don't have to worry about their wages. We have to think more about their accommodation and food," said Mamunul.
The former Bangladesh skipper added that they will pay the players in the coming days depending on the obtainability of sponsors.
