AFC’s renewed schedule unlikely to affect BPL timings

Even though Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Monday updated its footballing calendar for the 2023-24 season, with the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup to be held during a renewed timeline from August 2023 to May 2024, Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) is likely to stick to its previous timeline for the domestic season.

The AFC Champions League and AFC Cup usually kick off in February and end in October-November while Bangladesh's domestic season usually starts in September-October and runs till July-August.

"We will sit with the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) clubs to learn their advantages and disadvantages before confirming the upcoming season's schedule but there are hardly any chances to change the time-frame for our domestic season," BFF professional football league manager Zaber Bin Taher Ansari told The Daily Star today.

"We opened the transfer window last October for the current season, which is about to close and we are thinking of opening the transfer window in coming September or October. But everything will be decided after discussions with the participating clubs," added Zaber.

Meanwhile, defending league champions Bashundhara Kings are likely to take part in the preliminary stage of the Asian Championships in the upcoming 2023-24 season while Federation Cup champions Abahani are supposed to play the preliminary stage of the upcoming AFC Cup.

"As we haven't received the invitations and instructions for the upcoming Asian Champions League or AFC Cup yet, so we will have to wait to know how many teams are playing in which tournament," said Zaber, adding that the standing of the current season will be considered for the upcoming 2023-24 season and the participating clubs must meet AFC's requirement licensing.