The 7th Women's Football League, scheduled to start on December 15, will allow each club to field up to two foreign players as the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) aims to boost competitiveness ahead of next year's AFC Women's Asian Cup in Australia.

The last edition, completed in May 2024, saw only three top teams -- champions Nasrin Sporting Club, runners-up Ataur Rahman Bhuiyan College Sporting Club (ARBCSC), and third-placed Bangladesh Army FC -- play just three matches among themselves.

This season, seven of the nine previous teams -- excluding ARBCSC -- have applied for club licensing, alongside six new clubs including Bangladesh Ansar, Bangladesh Police FC, BKSP, and Rajshahi Star.

"So far, 13 clubs have applied for licensing, and the First Instance Body is working on it and will issue licences on Saturday," BFF women's football committee chair Mahfuza Akhter Kiron told The Daily Star yesterday, adding that they can organise the league with 13 teams if all meet the criteria.

"Once licensing is complete, the transfer window will open this month… We decided to allow two foreign players to boost league competitiveness and give national team players a challenging environment ahead of the Women's Asian Cup."

Plans to create a pool of national players were dropped after approving foreign signings. "The league will initially be a single round-robin, but a double-leg format is possible if a sponsor is secured," she added, further informing the competition is likely to be held at either Birshrestha Shaheed Mostafa Kamal Stadium or the National Stadium.