DHAKA, 7 October 2004 — Bangladesh’s first women’s football tournament has begun in Dhaka, triggering angry demonstrations by some hard-line religious parties in the capital and Rajshahi. The tournament kicked off without ceremony and at a stadium not normally used for soccer.
While the Islamists staged demonstrations, Bangladesh Ansar dumped Chittagong Division by 12-0 goals in a Group B match of the first-ever Women’s Football Tournament at Bir Shrestha Shaheed Mustafa Stadium in Kamalapur in Dhaka city.
Meanwhile, a group staged demonstration near Baitul Mukkaram National Mosque in Dhaka after the Asr prayers protesting the ongoing women’s football tournament.
A demonstration led by the local Imam Association, was held near the Darus Salam Alia Madrasah in northwestern Rajshahi city decrying the holding of the tournament in Dhaka. A spokesman for Jamiatul Ulema Islami Bangladesh warned of street protests if the tournament went ahead, saying women’s soccer was “indecent”. But the sports minister called the tournament “epoch-making” for women.
Officials said the successful holding of the tournament will encourage sports bodies to arrange similar competition in other fields.
However, organizers refrained from organizing a press conference — a long-practiced norm before the start of any sporting event — to keep it a low-key affair.
Hard-line religious parties in Bangladesh oppose any outdoor game involving women, although the country’s women regularly compete in sports like volleyball, handball, swimming, judo and karate.
