Bangladesh cancels women's football matches after extremist protests

A women's soccer match in Bangladesh was canceled Wednesday after protests by hard-liners forced organizers to call off the game, the second such incident in as many days.

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

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

"The extremists in our area gathered in a field and marched toward the venue. There were hundreds of them," tournament organizer 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, said he joined the demonstration alongside his students, as well as teachers and pupils from several other madrassas.

"Girls' soccer is un-Islamic," he said. "It is our religious duty to stop anything that goes against our beliefs."

The incident came a day after another match was postponed in the nearby city of Dinajpur following a similar demonstration by extremists wielding sticks.

"The match was suspended half an hour before it was supposed to kick off. We had to quickly move the girls to a safer place," teacher Moniruzzaman Zia told AFP.

Local government officer Amit Roy said four people were injured in clashes after protesters and counter-demonstrators threw bricks at each other, but all had since been discharged from the hospital.

Wednesday's incident was swiftly condemned by the Bangladesh Football Federation.

"Football is for everyone, and women have full rights to participate in it," BFF media manager Sadman Sakib said in a statement.

Bangladeshi extremist groups have grown noticeably more prominent after years of suppression by Hasina's government in the Muslim-majority country.

They have been accused of targeting shrines from the Sufi minority and campaigning against public conduct that does not align with their orthodox interpretation of the faith.