Topu, Zico, Morsalin to be left out of Maldives matches!

Bangladesh national team's key players Topu Barman, Anisur Rahman Zico and Sheikh Morsalin are likely to be not considered for the two World Cup prequalifying matches against Maldives later this month.

Bangladesh will play away in Male on October 12 and then host the Maldivians in Dhaka five days later, with the winners on aggregate to go through to the group stage of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.

While the training camp started a few days ago without the Bashundhara Kings players because of the club's AFC Cup assignment, some of the selected players of the club are supposed to join training, with the aforementioned trio unlikely to be included.

The three important players alongside two other players of the club and a few members of the support staff have been provisionally suspended by Bashundhara Kings over disciplinary ground and all five of them were excluded from their AFC Cup match against Odisha FC on Monday.

At a press conference at the Bangladesh Football Federation house, BFF president Kazi Salahuddin hinted that the three players may not be considered for the Maldives matches.

"We received a letter from Bashundhara Kings three or four days ago regarding them provisionally suspending four or five players on disciplinary ground. The players have sought apology to the club, but this is pending. When a club gives a letter to the BFF, it becomes our duty to investigate it. When it's a disciplinary action, it has to be covered by everybody," Salahuddin said following an executive meeting on Wednesday.

"This [their inclusion] will depend mostly on the coach, but I don't think they will be considered because when a club suspends players on disciplinary grounds and sends letters, I think it becomes difficult for the coach to select the players," the BFF boss added.

It has been learnt that Salahuddin's remarks were prompted by a meeting earlier in the day with head coach Javier Cabrera, who is supposedly against taking in players suspended for disciplinary reasons.

Meanwhile, the meeting also made recommendations on its investigation on financial mismanagement. The recommendations suggested heavy punishment on operations Mizanur Rahman, assistant head of finance Anupom Sarkar and CFO Abu Hossain – all of whom have been already resigned from their posts. The meeting also recommended action against grassroot manager Hasan Mahmud and competitions manager Zaber Bin Taher Ansari.