Dhaka, April 7 - In their initial meeting held on Monday, 13 out of 18 rebellious female football players from the national squad met with their British head coach, Peter Butler. The athletes had been boycotting him for approximately two and a half months starting from January 29.

The initial national training camp for the Bangladesh women’s squad aiming at the Asian Cup qualifiers commenced on Sunday. The lead coach organized a workout session in the gym on Monday; this involved 31 players from the signed roster of 36, excluding Swopna Rani, Orpita Biswas, Joynab Bibi, Munki Akter, and Kohati Kisku, who were unable to attend due to personal commitments.

The qualifying round for the Women's Asian Cup is scheduled to take place in Myanmar between June 29 and July 5.

However, the rebellious nationalist players opted out of attending the day’s workout led by Peter Butler, who had returned from England on Sunday.

In the course of the thirty-minute daily meeting with the head coach and the rebel players, both parties allegedly showed more flexibility and requested each other to overlook past conflicts and miscommunications.

It is intriguing to observe that the rebellious football players are participating in Monday’s workout or training session with Butler.

On Sunday morning, four key players from the Bangladesh women’s national football team, who recently won the SAFF Championship, departed for Thimphu to join the Bhutan National Women's Football League starting on April 15th.

The four players—captain Sabina Khatun from Bangladesh, top-performer Ritu Porna Chakma of SAFF, dependable national team members Monika Chakma, and Matsushima Sumaya—are set to compete for Paro FC in the Bhutan league.

The four Bangladeshi players will compete for Paro FC over a period of four months, with each player expected to receive approximately one lakh taka monthly along with round-trip travel costs and all local expenditures. This arrangement is contingent upon their release from the national squad commitments according to FIFA regulations.

Moreover, two additional Bangladesh national players — defender Masura Parvin and Rupna Chakma, who was named SAFF’s top goalkeeper, have been enlisted by the Transport United team in Bhutan. They will be joining the squad shortly alongside another Bangladeshi player, Krishna Rani Sarker.

However, the talented national football player from Bangladesh, Sagorika, was unable to register with Transport United of Bhutan because she did not meet the age requirements.

Sanjida Akter along with Shamsunnahar Sr might get an opportunity to participate in the Bhutan National Women's League, and discussions regarding this matter are currently underway.

Previously, eighteen veteran players skipped the national training camp organized by Sabina Khatun with head coach Peter Butler starting January 29 due to significant allegations against him. As a result, these players were removed from the national team roster for two away friendlies against the host nation UAE during February and March.