Eric Meyer named interim coach of women's team as Butler battles cancer

The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has appointed French coach Eric Meyer as interim coach of the Bangladesh women's football team for one month.

The country's football governing body confirmed the matter today through an official statement.

Women's team head coach Peter Butler had returned to England late last month for a health check-up. There it was learned that he is suffering from cancer.

Butler is now busy fighting the biggest and hardest battle of his life, away from the football field. And it is at this very moment that Meyer has been handed charge of the women's team's stalled camp.

Since 30 October, the women footballers have been sweating through intensive training with a large 44-member squad at the Korean Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) in Chattogram.

But the head coach's sudden absence had created a strange emptiness and lack of coordination within the team. Although Butler sent his instructions from faraway England via WhatsApp, they were not of much use in the reality of the field.

Instead, confusion and a communication gap had developed between assistant coaches Abul Hossain and Lina Chakma over carrying out their duties. The familiar rhythm of training seemed to have been largely lost.

Amid this unrest and speculation within the team, the interim responsibility was therefore hurriedly handed to Eric Meyer.

The new coach now faces a major challenge: on one hand, quickly bringing a scattered team together, and on the other, selecting a final 23-member squad from the 44-member preliminary squad for two upcoming international friendly matches against Singapore.

According to the schedule, the women's team will return to Dhaka from Chattogram on 16 November. The next day, on 17 November, the footballers will watch the SAFF Championship final from the stands at the National Stadium.

Regular training under Meyer will resume at the same venue from 19 November. The girls will not have much time to adapt to the new coach's philosophy before taking the field against Singapore on 1 and 5 December.

Although the new coach has been given charge for one month for now, the thoughts of the BFF and the players are centred only on Peter Butler.

In the press release, the federation wished Butler a speedy and full recovery. It expressed the hope that, defeating a difficult opponent like cancer, he will soon recover and return to his familiar dugout, to his beloved players.