Reza Kordi, who took charge of the Burmese side in late April, made the decision to resign from his position as Myanmar futsal team head coach on Thursday evening, reports presstv.ir.
The Iranian head coach of the Myanmar men’s national football team has resigned from his post in a show of solidarity with Rohingya minority Muslims, whom are being subject to various forms of violence by extremist Buddhists and military forces in the Southeast Asian country.
President of the National Olympic Committee of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kioumars Hashemi, later praised Kordi’s humane act to part company with the Myanmar Football Federation, which is the governing body for futsal in the
Southeast Asian country and represents it in international futsal competitions.
“I cannot work there because FIFA charter states the religious and political issues and ideologies should be kept out of the sports,” Kordi said.
“I have sent an email to head of Myanmar Football Association and announced my resignation,” he added.
Many Rohingya had already escaped. Communal clashes with Buddhists in Rakhine prompted 140,000 Rohingya to leave their homes in 2012. Thousands have since died either at sea or in brutal jungle camps run by people smugglers.
A United Nations report released this year detailed what happened to those that stayed. The report described mass killings and gang rapes by the armed forces in actions that “very likely” amounted to crimes against humanity.
The current wave of violence is the worst so far, and rights groups have said it could constitute a final campaign to rid Myanmar of the Rohingya. Satellites have recorded images of whole villages burnt to the ground.
Myanmar's security forces have been attacking the Rohingya Muslims and torching their villages since October 2016 in a bid to push them out of the western state of Rakhine.
The attacks have intensified since August 25, following alleged armed attacks on police and military posts in Rakhine.
The Rohingya have been subject to communal violence by extremist Buddhists for years, forcing large groups of Muslims to take perilous journeys and seek refuge in Bangladesh and other neighboring countries.
Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has come under fire for failing to protect the country’s Muslim minority from persecution.
She claimed on Wednesday that a huge iceberg of misinformation was spreading about violence in western Myanmar.