Sports Desk

Senior players from the two-time SAFF women’s football champions team addressed the media at the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) on Thursday to clarify their stance on boycotting training sessions under head coach Peter James Butler.

Centre-back Masura Parvin first outlined their position before long-serving captain Sabina Khatun, in an emotional statement, declared that the players had nothing left to prove and that their decision was a matter of self-respect.

“We never told anyone that we wouldn’t train—not any official, not even Kiran Apa. We only said we wouldn’t train under this coach (Peter). He was on vacation, and we were following his schedule as instructed. We even told Kiran Apa that since he had just arrived, he could take some rest. We were willing to continue training but not under him. The BFF president is currently out of the country, and until we meet with him, we do not want to train under this coach,” Masura said.

When asked about their grievances with the head coach, Sabina stepped forward and emotionally stated, “I just have one thing to say. We’ve nothing to prove now—it’s a matter of self-respect. We play for our country, but when our own people hurl abuse at us, it’s impossible to endure.”

The women’s team’s residential camp, featuring 30 players, began on 15 January after a two-month break. Peter arrived in Dhaka and joined the camp on Monday. Until then, the players had been training under the assistant coaches to regain fitness.

However, the on-field training sessions under Peter at the BUET ground were supposed to start on Tuesday, but the venue was only scheduled to be handed over to BFF after Saturday. The following day, on Wednesday, Peter called a meeting with the players, but they refused to attend.

“We have seen a lot of news implying that we have done nothing for the country. We have nothing more to say to anyone. We conveyed our decision to BFF—we will not train under this coach. Replace him with anyone else, we have no objections. We have never done anything like this before, never breached discipline,” Masura reiterated.

“If we had breached discipline, we wouldn’t have been able to win the SAFF title,” midfielder Maria Manda added.

When asked what exactly the head coach had done to them, forward Krishna Rani Sarkar responded, “We feel immense mental pressure on the field, especially regarding our gestures. We wake up very early in the morning, so during training, we try to stay a bit relaxed, but his words mentally disturb us. It upsets us and affects our concentration during practice. The same thing happened during our games—you all saw what happened in Nepal.”

The players have been calling for Peter’s removal since their SAFF Women’s Championship 2024 campaign in Nepal last October.

“Our issues with him didn’t start just before SAFF or during SAFF. Our former president and Kiran Apa knew everything. We also spoke to Imran Vai (BFF general secretary), and they assured us that they would replace the head coach before the tournament. The assistant coaches knew everything that happened to us. We don’t know why they aren’t speaking up now—it’s up to them. If we want to keep this team together, we have to make these decisions,” Krishna added.

Earlier, in an emergency meeting on 15 January, chaired by President Tabith Awal, BFF decided to renew the contracts of both the men’s and women’s team coaches. As per the decision, Peter will continue as the women’s team head coach from 15 January 2025 to 31 December 2026.

The signing formalities will be completed upon Tabith Awal’s return to Dhaka, as he is currently in London.

Earlier on 15 January, only 12 junior players out of 30 in the women’s team camp attended the gym session under Peter.

“I have no idea. It all depends on the pitch… Yes, today we had a gym session, and it was very positive,” Peter told reporters while leaving BFF.

When asked about the players’ decision, he responded, “I have no idea… I don’t make decisions for other people. I’ve got nothing to say on that matter. I’m just a professional trying to do my job. Thank you.”