The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) licensed the Bangladesh Premier League winners Bashundhara Kings to compete in the AFC winners League, the continent’s premier club competition.
The application deadline for the AFC Champions League also passed today. Kings, on the other hand, have already finished the necessary paperwork and would be the first Bangladeshi club to compete in Asia’s premier club championship.
AFC Champions League licensing was sought by other teams outside Kings, including Abahani and Sheikh Jamal.
We have submitted our application to the AFC Champions League. Bashundhara Kings’ marketing and media manager Ahmed Shaaek told The Daily Star today that his team would learn who they will face in the playoffs in the coming days, and that the higher-seeded of two playoff teams will host the match.
Kings and Abahani both kept their AFC Cup licenses, however Sheikh Jamal DC and Mohammedan SC were turned down because they had the necessary paperwork to compete.
If the Bashundhara Kings lose their AFC Champions League play-off match, Shaaek said they will immediately return to the AFC Cup group stage.
However, Kings may owe their qualification for the AFC Champions League to its opponent, six-time winner Abahani. After Abahani won their zone and advanced to the inter-zonal semifinals of the 2019 AFC Cup, the governing body for Asian football granted one of the country’s teams a promotion to the play-off round of the AFC Champions League.
After Abahani advanced to the inter-zonal semifinals of the AFC Cup in 2019, Bangladesh was allocated one place for the play-off of the AFC Champions League, improving the country’s club rankings. The competition manager for the Bangladesh Football Federation, Zaber Bin Taher Ansari, recently told The Daily Star that the decline in the country’s club rankings casts question on whether Bangladesh can qualify for the AFC Champions League next season.
Zaber said that the AFC Champions League playoff draw will most likely be finalized after June 30.