Bangladesh Football Federation Delays Season Start Again

The Bangladesh Football Federation has been forced into another reshuffle of the domestic calendar, with the 2026-27 Bangladesh Football League and Federation Cup both pushed back as three major clubs remain under a FIFA registration ban.

Bashundhara Kings, Abahani and Young Men's Fakirerpool Club have still not resolved their sanctions, despite repeated extensions. That ongoing deadlock has now set a new hard line: BFF has fixed September 3, 2026 as the final deadline for all participating clubs to complete their first-phase player registration.

Until that is done, the season waits.

New dates, new headaches

The knock-on effect is significant. The football season, which was supposed to kick off on August 25, will now start on September 18 under the revised schedule.

The Federation Cup has also been pushed back. Originally slated for an August 28 start, the tournament will now begin on September 22, turning what should have been an early-season showpiece into a late-September curtain-raiser.

Matches in the Federation Cup will be spread across Munshiganj, Manikganj, Gopalganj and the National Stadium in Dhaka, taking top-flight football back into regional venues before returning to the capital.

National team squeezed into tight window

The reshuffle comes against the backdrop of a looming FIFA international window from September 21 to October 6. BFF has instructed that the national team camp open on August 27, leaving coaches to juggle preparations with a domestic calendar that is only just getting underway.

Club managers, national team staff and players will be pulled in different directions as competitive games and international duty collide almost immediately after the delayed start.

Fortis FC’s Asian journey cuts into league

The schedule faces another disruption from abroad. Fortis FC’s participation in the AFC Challenge League will carve out a fresh gap in the domestic programme, with the group stage of the continental competition set for October 17 to 23 in Kuwait.

To cope with that, BFF has confirmed that all Bangladesh Football League and Federation Cup fixtures involving Fortis will be played after the completion of the first phase of the league.

So the calendar stretches, bends and pauses again, all while the clock ticks toward September 3. The question now is simple: can the banned clubs clear their issues in time, or will Bangladeshi football be forced into yet another reset?