(Reuters) – The Bangladesh Football Federation has set up a committee after more than a dozen women’s national team players refused to train under coach Peter Butler and accused him of inappropriate behaviour, the BFF’s women’s committee’s chief said on Saturday.
In an open letter to the media, the group of players led by captain Sabina Khatun accused Butler of favouritism, dividing the team, making inappropriate comments about players’ personal lives and insulting them.
The players said they would quit if the 58-year-old English coach remained in charge.
Butler declined to comment on the allegations.
Media reports said only 13 of the 31 players called up for the national camp trained under Butler on Saturday.
“We would of course like the girls to stay in the camp, train and play … we are continuously working on that,” the BFF’s women’s committee chief Mahfuza Akhter told reporters.
“We sat down with the girls today. We tried our best to make them understand. The BFF president (Tabith Awal) is also working, he has already established an investigative committee… I believe it will turn out well.”
Former West Ham United midfielder Butler, who has previously coached the men’s national teams of Botswana and Liberia, took charge in March 2024, with Bangladesh winning their second straight SAFF Women’s Championship title in October.
The players who boycotted training alleged that the rift with the coach started before that campaign.
“If he stays, with due respect to the coach, we will leave here with our own self-respect,” Khatun told reporters on Thursday.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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