Bashundhara Kings – who have won the Bangladesh Premier League in each of the last five editions – roped in Romanian coach Valeriu Tita as their new head coach on a one-year contract with hopes to continue their dominance at domestic levels and improve in regional competitions.
Kings announced the 58-year-old’s appointment on Tuesday, five days after Spanish coach Oscar Bruzon left his post following a six-year stint with the club.
Tita – who has a UEFA pro coaching license – last worked with Saudi Arabia’s First Division side Al-Ain Football Club in 2023 and will complete the formalities with Kings later this month when he arrives in Dhaka.
He served as the head coach of the Syrian national team in two terms – from 2010 to 2011 and from 2021 to 2022 – and also guided Syria’s Al Ittihad Aleppo to win the AFC Asian Cup in 2010.
Besides these, he has coached at several clubs in Romania, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Iraq, UAE, and Jordan in his 17-year coaching career.
Kings also recruited two more coaching staff – Romanian set piece coach Dorel Stoica and Tunisian fitness coach Khalil Chakroun – ahead of the upcoming season, expected to start in September with the Independence Cup.
Kings, who will compete in the newly formed AFC Challenge League in October, had tremendous success in the past years – winning five BPL titles, three Federation Cups, and three Independence Cups –under Bruzon’s tutelage. However, they could never surpass the group-stage hurdles in the AFC Cup.
‘He has vast experience, alongside success in the AFC Cup. That’s the main reason behind choosing him,’ Kings president Imrul Hasan told the media.