Detained Bangladeshi FIFA official released from jail

DHAKA: A FIFA official detained for allegedly defaming the Bangladeshi prime minister has been freed, her lawyer said Wednesday, in a case closely watched by football’s governing body and rights groups.

Mahfuza Akhter, a FIFA council member since 2017 and the national chief of women’s football, was arrested on Saturday after a local football organiser accused her of making derogatory comments about Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

She was granted bail this week and released from Dhaka central prison Wednesday afternoon “after we completed all legal formalities”, said her lawyer Liakat Hossain.

Mahfuza in a press conference last month criticised Hasina for neglecting football in the cricket-mad country. In an email to AFP, a FIFA spokesman this week said the footballing body was “monitoring this matter with concern”.

The statement came a day after rights group Amnesty International demanded Mahfuza’s unconditional release, saying she “was merely exercising her right to freedom of expression”. If she is found guilty, Mahfuza could be sentenced to a maximum two years in jail. The arrest of the FIFA official marks the latest attack on freedom of expression in Bangladesh, Amnesty said.