Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League team Prime Bank Cricket Club have protested against media reports where the club were accused of gender discrimination and that they did not want to participate in a game in the ongoing season of the tournament under a woman umpire.
There has been a stir on social media platforms from Friday after news broke that Prime Bank and Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited were allegedly unhappy with the appointment of a female umpire for their game at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium Thursday.
Former Bangladesh woman cricketer Shathira Jakir Jessy emerged as the first on-field lady-umpire to officiate in Dhaka Premier League.
Jessy made her debut as an umpire in 2022 and was named in the International Cricket Council’s development panel of umpires last month alongside three other female officials from the country.
In February this year, she officiated in the Asian Cricket Council Women's Premier Cup in Malaysia.
Prime Bank through a media release Sunday denied such claims made by some media outlets, as well as Bangladesh Cricket Board’s umpires committee chairman Iftekhar Ahmed Mithu.
“A recent news on ‘DPL sides unhappy with female umpire’s appointment’ has come to our notice. It is disappointing to see Prime Bank’s name getting involved in that news. Prime Bank believe in progress and are respectful towards all genders, caste and religion,” said Prime Bank in the media release.
“There are incidents during games when the players show displeasure to some decisions from the umpires and those are part of the game. The media’s claim, of Prime Bank not willing to play under a woman umpire, is baseless. We request the media to refrain from reporting such baseless claims.”
Jessy on the other hand was surprised to learn of the incident from the media and refused to accept it, given that she maintains good relation with the cricketers.
“I have a good rapport with the senior players. I am very surprised to have come to know about this news in the media. Every player, including Mushfiqur [Rahim], Mahmudullah praised my umpiring after the match. How can they do such baseless report,” Jessy told the reporters.
The news has caused an uneven situation in the BCB office as well where majority was shocked to find out about the claim from one of its directors in the shape of Mithu.
Mithu while speaking to the media had said: “Yes, they were unhappy that BCB had appointed a female umpire but the match had to go on. They made comments regarding their unhappiness [with appointment]. They did not make the complaint to me but did so with Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis. It's unfortunate since our Prime Minister is a woman. We should encourage these appointments.”
It is understood that some influential directors and high-ups of the board have discussed with Mithu regarding his “controversial” statement.
“This is strange. We spoke to the match officials and also the players but no one has been able to validate us the incident. Yes, there was a discussion in both the dressing rooms that Jessy is inexperienced to officiate such a big game but there was never a discussion on the gender,” said a BCB official to Dhaka Tribune Sunday requesting anonymity.
When this report was about to be filed Sunday evening, Mithu took a sharp U-turn from his previous statement.
Speaking to a government-owned news portal, the BCB director brushed off the claims he had earlier brought against the Dhaka League teams.
“It’s absolutely a false news that the players refused to play under a female umpire. But the club officials had a little reservation, considering Jessy’s experience to officiate a match in a high-voltage DPL game. That’s just it,” said Mithu.