Women’s football match in Sunamganj suspended after objections from some

A women’s friendly football match scheduled for Monday afternoon at Dirai Upazila Stadium in Sunamganj has been suspended by the organisers following objections from a group of local residents.

The match was scheduled to take place at 4:30 pm, with the women’s teams of Shopno Chura Sporting Club of Dirai and Zara Sporting Club of Sylhet set to face each other.

Rakib Ahmed Bhuiyan, president and coach of Shopno Chura Sporting Club, told Prothom Alo that he had informed the upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) about the match five days earlier.

According to Rakib, officials and players of the Sylhet team arrived in Dirai on Sunday. However, he learnt later that night that some people had gone to the UNO’s office and demanded that the match be stopped. They also posted a video about the issue on Facebook.

Rakib said he then contacted the UNO, who told him on Monday morning that, since both sides were residents of Dirai, they should resolve the matter through discussion and reach an understanding before holding the match. Otherwise, the match would have to be suspended.

Earlier, on Sunday night, several people, including Maulana Sharif Uddin of Chandipur in Dirai Pourashava, met UNO Sanjib Sarker and demanded that what they described as “obscenity” in the name of football be stopped. They also posted a video on Facebook after leaving the UNO’s office and returned there on Monday morning to demand that the match be cancelled.

Speaking to Prothom Alo over the phone, Maulana Sharif Uddin said they had initially heard that adolescent girls would be playing football. They were now being told through loudspeaker announcements that it would be a women’s football match.

He claimed that no such women’s football match had previously been held in Dirai.

Describing himself as president of the “Dirai Anti-Islamic Activities Prevention Committee”, Sharif Uddin said, “We cannot accept that there will be dancing and obscenity on the field involving women.”

When told that girls’ football matches had been held at the stadium since 2019, he said, “I had not seen them before. We are not opposed to sports; we are opposed to obscenity.”

On Monday afternoon, organiser Rakib Ahmed Bhuiyan said he contacted the police about the matter and was asked to suspend the match. He said he had therefore been forced to call it off.

Rakib said Shopno Chura Sporting Club was established in 2019 and consists of girls from the locality. That year, seven women’s football teams from seven districts came to Dirai at the club’s invitation to play matches.

He further said that Shopno Chura’s players also travelled to Dhaka and other parts of the country to participate in football matches, as well as taking part in national-level competitions.

He said he was surprised that the team was suddenly facing opposition to its matches.

Speaking about the situation, Dirai UNO Sanjib Sarker said Rakib Ahmed had approached him four to five days earlier and told him that adolescent girls would be playing football at the stadium.

“Now I am hearing that there is some dispute over sponsorship for the match. One group has taken a position against the women’s football match. Since both sides are residents of Dirai, we asked them to resolve the matter through discussion and reach an understanding before holding the match,” the UNO said.

He added that the organisers had later informed him that they had decided to suspend the match themselves.