Bangladesh cancels women’s football matches after religious protests

DHAKA: A women´s football match was cancelled in Bangladesh on Wednesday after protests by hardliners forced organisers to call off the fixture, the second such incident in as many days.

Analysts say that previously fringe religious movements have grown bold in the South Asian nation following the ouster of autocratic premier Sheikh Hasina last year.

The northern city of Joypurhat was due on Wednesday to host a friendly football match between its district women´s team and another from nearby Rangpur.

“The hardliners in our area gathered in a field and marched toward the venue. There were hundreds of them,” tournament organiser Samiul Hasan Emon told AFP.

“The situation worsened, and we had to cancel today´s event.”

Abu Bakkar Siddique, the headmaster of a local Islamic school, told AFP he had joined the demonstration alongside his students, as well as teachers and pupils from several other madrassas.