Fortis FC and Bangladesh Police FC are set to create a piece of history for Bangladesh football when they represent the country in the preliminary round of the AFC Challenge League next month, despite finishing third and fourth respectively in the Bangladesh Football League (BFL) last season.
Usually, the BFL champions and runners-up receive the opportunity to play in Asia’s third-tier club competition, provided they obtain AFC Club licences. However, Bashundhara Kings and Abahani, the top two finishers last season, failed to secure the licences due to FIFA-imposed registration bans, allowing Fortis and Police to step up after securing their licences in time.
Fortis will host Kyrgyzstan’s Muras United FC at Bashundhara Kings Arena in Dhaka, while Police will face Syria’s six-time league champions Al Ittihad Ahli of Aleppo SC in Jordan on August 11. Both clubs began preparations earlier this month, aiming to make their AFC debuts memorable despite facing challenging opponents.
Muras United, who beat Abahani 2-0 in the preliminary stage in Dhaka last season, reached the AFC Challenge Cup semifinals on their debut before losing 2-1 to eventual champions Al Kuwait. Al Ittihad Ahli, meanwhile, won the now-defunct AFC Cup in 2010 and are also 10-time Syrian Cup champions.
“Muras have formed their squad for the AFC Challenge League and have 15 foreign players. Fortis did not have such plans, but we got a rare opportunity to play in a competition where our top clubs have regularly struggled,” Fortis coach Masud Parvez Kaiser told The Daily Star yesterday.
“We don’t want to surrender before the match and will try to give them a tough fight in familiar environment,” he added.
Fortis have brought in several young players after losing seven experienced players and have strengthened their foreign contingent with recruits from Japan, Nigeria, Nepal and Gambia, taking their foreign player count to eight.
Police, on the other hand, began training on July 10 with only local players and are looking to add at least six foreign players ahead of their clash with Al Ittihad Ahli. While Fortis do not have any national team players, Police have defender Isa Faisal and four to five players with recent Bangladesh U-23 experience.
“We want to win and reach the group stage, though it will be difficult as we had only a short time to prepare after being out of football for six weeks,” Police coach Asifuzzaman told The Daily Star.
“We are not used to this level, but we will take the field aiming for victory,” added the AFC Pro-licensed coach, whose team plan to leave for Jordan on August 8.
