Preparations begin today

Bangladesh were pitted in Group A alongside Bhutan and Sri Lanka in the upcoming SAFF U-15 Championship, the draw for which was held at the Bangladesh Football Federation yesterday.

Runners-up India were placed in Group B, with Nepal and Maldives being the other two teams in the six-team championship.

Bangladesh are the defending champions of this tournament as they clinched the 2015 title in Sylhet by beating India in the final. The championship this time will be held from August 18 to 27 in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Meanwhile, the draw for the SAFF U-18 Championship was also held during the same ceremony at the BFF House, which is also the headquarters of the South Asian Football Federation.

Bangladesh were placed in Group A of that tournament, alongside runners-up India and Bhutan. Defending champions Nepal were placed in Group B alongside Maldives and Sri Lanka for this championship, which will be held in Thimphu, Bhutan from September 18 to 27.

SAFF general secretary Anwarul Huq Helal and BFF general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag conducted the draw ceremony.

“These two tournaments were previously for the under-16 and under-19 age groups. But due to recommendations from the Asian Football Confederation, we will be holding the tournaments for the under-15 and under-18 age groups. These two tournaments will be a platform for the AFC U-16 and AFC U-19 Championship qualifiers next year,” Helal explained after the draw ceremony.

The two finalists of the previous edition were regarded as the top two seeds and drawn in different groups. The other four teams, for both tournaments, were chosen from lottery. “There will be no prize money as such for the teams but there will be participation money and hosting money for the teams and the hosts,” Helal informed.

Meanwhile, BFF spokesman Shohag informed that preparation of the Bangladesh teams for the two tournaments already got underway: “A 30-member under-18 squad will report at BKSP tomorrow [Tuesday], where they will have training under a few local coaches as well as strength and condition coach John Whittle until July 24, when they will be released to their respective clubs for the league. Head coach Andrew Ord will take charge of the team after returning from Palestine. Meanwhile, there are preliminary training camps going on in Gopalganj and Khulna for the under-15 squad, which has been gathered from various trials.”