The inclusion of Afeida Khandaker — current senior national team captain — and some key players of Bangladesh’s historic AFC Asian Cup qualification  in the SAFF U-20 Women’s Championship squad has raised eyebrows and questions whether involving a senior team captain in a youth tournament undermines the developmental purpose of the competition. In a candid interview with Daily Sun’s Tanvir Ahmed Pranto, head coach Peter Butler, who will also be the coach of the U-20 side, defended the move, insisting it aligns with eligibility rules, player intent, and his long-term vision for women’s football in Bangladesh. Here are the excerpts:

Daily Sun : What is your objective in the SAFF U-20 tournament?

Peter Butler: My objective for the Under-20 SAFF Championship is, to treat it as a development program. Some people may have different opinions on it. They may have ideas of trying to win it. I’m from a development sense. I do believe in development. Winning this Under-20 tournament is not the Holy Grail, in my opinion. It’s about giving more game time, giving more opportunities to young players.

The rules stipulate that you cannot jump age groups. So, it’s a crazy rule. A rule I really don’t understand to this day.

Daily Sun : If the goal is to build a strong future pipeline, does relying on someone already established like Afeida Khandaker at senior level help that cause, or does it risk blocking new talent from emerging?

Butler: There’s nobody more development-minded (than me) and given more young players opportunities probably in the history of Bangladesh women’s football. I mean, you only have to look at the men’s senior national team. They have no youngsters in their development pipeline, which are being fed through into the senior national team. No U-20 players were selected for the recent game against Singapore. You look at my senior national team, 55 percent of them are actually are under 20s. Now, what you’ve got to take into consideration is Afeida  Khandaker is under 20. And the rules state that for Under-20s eligibility is you have to be on or after the 1st of January 2006. Now, I cannot jump under 17s, which I would love to. I’d love to have Prity (Sauravi Akanda Prity), Yearzan (Yearzan Begum) who came to UAE with us and played against seniors - 27, 28-year-old players. I would love to have them in the Under-20s. But I can’t because I’m not allowed. The rules stipulate that you cannot jump age groups. So, it’s a crazy rule. A rule I really don’t understand to this day. Maybe you can look into it. 

The development pipeline within the women’s team is extremely healthy and anybody can see that because they're the young players I've brought through into the senior national team. 

Daily Sun : Does including the likes of Afeida in this U-20 team align with your long-term development goals?

Butler: Of course it does. I used players who are eligible for this specific age group because, according to AFC and SAFF rules, you cannot use U-17 players at the U-20 level.
If the goal is to build a strong future pipeline, why wouldn’t I rely on someone who’s already established? She may play, she may not—but she’s in the correct age group. Yes, she’s part of the senior national team, but I’m mindful of managing her game time.

I had a conversation with her. Initially, I didn’t plan to involve her, but she insisted. She wanted to be part of it. And from my perspective, international matches are often few and far between, so this gives her a great opportunity to contribute, even if just as a support figure, within the 23-member squad.

Daily Sun : Even if she’s technically age-eligible, does moving her between age groups raise concerns about overuse, burnout?

Butler: I think she’s a wonderful talent. There’s absolutely no chance she’ll get burnt out—because I’ll use her sparingly, only if necessary. The same goes for Sapna Rani and Munki Akhter. No one is more aware of playing time, overuse, and player burnout than I am.
I’m very conscious of these things because I’m an experienced coach—I’m not a fool. I don’t believe in “win at all costs.” I believe in development. That’s exactly why I’ve selected them.
I’ve just come back from a 5:00–6:00 AM training session in the pouring rain with over 30 U-17 players. Some of those U-17s I’d love to have in the U-20 squad—but I can’t. 
Unfortunately, some people tend to focus only on the negatives. I’d rather take an optimistic view—I prefer to see the glass as half full, not half empty.

I had a conversation with her. Initially, I didn’t plan to involve her, but she insisted. She wanted to be part of it. And from my perspective, international matches are often few and far between, so this gives her a great opportunity to contribute, even if just as a support figure, within the 23-member squad

Daily Sun : What message does it send to under-20 players in the pipeline? 

Butler: It says they all want to be like Afeida, they all want to be like Munki or Umehla. They want to emulate them and me giving them opportunity and game time is what it is all about. 

Daily Sun : Is it also sending a message that they are not good enough to step up?

Butler: Nobody’s telling them that, who’s telling them that? Maybe you are telling them that they are not good enough to step up. Of course they are good enough to step up, otherwise they wouldn’t be selected. And more importantly, there’s a real pipeline of players coming through, which many people haven’t seen because there aren’t many tournaments or leagues to actually align yourself with at those respective age groups.

Daily Sun : So, domestic leagues are what women’s football in the country needs right now?

Butler: Yes.This country needs a women’s league with at least six teams. It needs six teams to actually compete and it has to be up and running, in my opinion, ASAP. Otherwise we’re going to lose talents.