Rajshahi Stars FC are all set to become the country’s first women’s outfit to compete in the AFC Women’s Champions League, with the preliminary round scheduled to take place from August 17 to 23 in Malaysia.
Bangladesh Women’s Football League (WFL) champions Rajshahi have been drawn in Group A along with India’s East Bengal FC, Guam’s Rovers FC and hosts Malaysia’s Sabah FA, as the 24-team draw was held in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
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The 24 participating clubs, split into six groups, will compete in the preliminary stage. The champions of each group will advance to the 12-team final round, where six clubs will enter directly: holders Naegohyang Women’s FC of North Korea and the top five ranked teams, namely Australia’s Melbourne City FC, Korea’s Hwacheon KSPO WFC, Japan’s INAC Kobe Leonessa, China’s Beijing Jingtan Football Club and Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City Women’s FC.
Three-time champions Bashundhara Kings were supposed to take part in the inaugural edition of the competition in 2024, but stayed away following their withdrawal from the WFL, while 2023-24 champions Nasrin Sports Academy also followed suit to skip last year’s Champions League.
However, 2024-25 winners Rajshahi Stars, sponsored by Nabil Group, did not hesitate to take the opportunity this time around and have enrolled for Asia’s top-flight women’s club competition.
“We are going to have a meeting in a few days to finalise everything as we are planning to strengthen the squad by signing a few experienced players because we have a good chance to get out of the group stage,” Rajshahi Stars FC manager Musfiqur Rahman told The Daily Star on Thursday.
“We want to play two Nepalese players who were part of our championship, but we still don’t know whether they are eligible to play for Rajshahi Stars FC following the FIFA suspension of the Nepal Football Association,” said Rahman, adding that they are also looking forward to signing a couple of African footballers.
Rajshahi Stars will start their campaign by taking on East Bengal on August 17 before facing Rovers and Sabah on August 20 and 23 respectively.
