Girls’ Football in Derai Deserves Better Than a Clerical Veto

Girls’ football in Derai was halted this week, and the reason should trouble every Bangladeshi. This is an Ex-Muslim Voices column, built on reported facts.

A friendly match between two adolescent girls’ teams was due on 5 October at Derai Upazila Stadium in Sunamganj. Swapnachura Sporting Club organised it. Local clerics objected, and the organisers announced a postponement, The Daily Star reports.

Why girls’ football in Derai matters

Maulana Sharif Uddin leads a “Committee to Resist Anti-Islamic Activities in Derai.” He said women’s football had never been held in Derai before. He voiced fear of “dancing and obscenity.” He added, “We are not against sports; we are against obscenity.”

The clerics then met local officials and said the match would disrupt peace. The upazila executive officer, Sanjib Sarkar, advised both sides to settle it among themselves. Police officer-in-charge Aminul Islam said officers were ready to provide security and the area was normal.

Notice what happened. Police were willing to protect the match. The pressure still won. A group with no legal authority set the limits for girls’ play.

The club has held girls’ matches since 2019. Its players have competed in national tournaments. The club is not formally registered, which is a gap worth fixing. It is no reason to deny children a game.

Moral policing rarely begins with violence. It begins with a polite committee and a talk of “peace.” The cost lands on the girls who simply wanted to play.

Calling a football match obscene is a judgment about girls’ bodies, not about the sport. A child kicking a ball harms no one. Nothing in the reporting suggests the girls planned anything but a game.

The state has a clear duty. Local officials should guarantee the right to play, and not ask girls to wait until critics agree. Sports bodies and the education ministry can offer registration and venues.

Read our earlier column on blasphemy laws in Nigeria for another case where religion limits ordinary freedoms.

Fact basis: The Daily Star (6 October 2026). Opinion column; quotations are as reported by The Daily Star.