The women’s football match was canceled on Wednesday after protests by Islamic fundamentalists in Bangladesh. This is the second such incident in recent days. During the friendly women’s football match between Joypurhat and Rangpur district teams, students and teachers of the Islamic school reached the ground and vandalized it. After which the match was canceled. Tournament organizer Samiul Hasan Emon told news agency AFP – Hundreds of Islamists from our area came to the field during the match and started vandalizing. Seeing the situation getting worse, we had to cancel the match. Football match canceled on Tuesday as well
This is the second incident of protest against women’s football in recent days. Earlier, on Tuesday, during a football match in the city of Dinajpur, Islamists had canceled the women’s match by using sticks. According to teacher Moniruzzaman Zia, who was present there, the authorities had to take the players out of the field for security reasons. During the Dinajpur protest, there were fights between Islamic protesters and fans present at the match, with both groups throwing bricks at each other. Local official Amit Roy said that four people were injured in the incident, although all have been discharged from the hospital. Women’s football is un-Islamic: Religious fundamentalists
Abu Bakkar Siddiqui, the head of the madrasa protesting against women’s football, said – Girls’ football is un-Islamic. It is our religious duty to stop anything that is against our beliefs. Women have the right to participate in football: BFF
The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has condemned the incident. BFF media manager Sakib said in a statement, football is for everyone and women have every right to participate in it. After the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from power last year, these incidents are coming to the fore continuously. This shows that Islamic groups have increased in Bangladesh.
