A group of veteran female basketball players have called for a boycott of the Bangladesh Basketball Federation (BBF), alleging widespread discrimination and mismanagement.
The players have demanded the formation of a separate governing body or federation led by and for women, the inclusion of active female members on the decision-making board of the federation through transparent recruitment, and the removal of all members of the current board who have deeply ingrained misogynistic attitudes.
BBF executive member Ranjit Chandra Das was named among the chief offenders.
The group of players, represented by Deshi Ballers founder and former women’s national basketball team captain Ashreen Mridha, voiced their demands through a statement to the Dhaka Tribune. The group of players includes about 30-40 women who have played for the national team, participated in national training camps or play basketball in some other capacity.
“The first Bangladesh women’s national team was formed in 2009 with hope of a new beginning for women’s basketball in the country. However, poor management from the basketball federation has led to the women’s national team participating in only 7 international events in 11 years,” the statement said.
“While all other South Asian countries have inaugurated leagues for women and invested in training their teams locally and internationally, Bangladesh Basketball Federation has not hosted a single local women’s basketball championship till now,” it added, pointing out that there are three or four leagues hosted for the men.
The statement also said there was a lack of transparency in the decision-making process of BBF and the selection of teams for women’s basketball events.
File photo of the national women's basketball team in 2015
BBF does not even provide basic facilities
According to the statement, female players regularly face gender- and age-based discrimination from the BBF, who also do not even provide the most basic of facilities. Quality coaching and skill development programs are also near non-existent.
“The federation has not provided any development resources for the women’s basketball to grow such as youth camps, skill development programs, frequent tournaments, or even basic facilities. the federation court has been broken for 15 years, the washroom and changing room facilities are beyond appalling,” it said.
“The women’s national team never had a dedicated basketball coach and was trained by sub-par employees of the federation who are not certified basketball coaches. In 2019, women’s team coach Sabuj Miah was suspended over an allegation of physically assaulting a female player during their preparation camp. However, after multiple inquiries by the Olympic Committee, the man was reported innocent and remains part of the federation,” the statement added.
It also said female national team players from relatively affluent families were taken advantage of and not provided with salaries.
‘Why is age a barrier for women and not for men?’
The BBF has been limiting women’s basketball to the youth only, only organizing events at the U16, U18 or U23 levels, as the result of a primitive, age-discriminatory and misogynistic mentality towards women, the statement said.
“The federation does not want to include senior veteran players who ask legitimate questions, such as why don't we have dedicated coaches for females, where are our development camps, why don't women on the national team earn salaries,” it added.
“In the last SA Games 2019 team selection, all veteran female players were purposely removed from the team and a completely new amateur team (players recruited from rural areas) was sent to participate in SA Games, who of course performed horribly. With no transparency provided, all the funding received for players for this camp, was surely eaten up by the federation because the girls who have arrived from rural areas did not have a voice,” the statement said.
It further said some women are not allowed to play solely because they are married, and young female players are constantly demeaned by federation members about their skill levels to justify denying women opportunities to play.
Imaginary female board members?
The female players alleged that two imaginary women, one identified as MP Mira and the other unnamed, are touted by the federation as responsible for women’s basketball.
“Neither have these female employees attended women’s events, nor have they engaged with female players to understand their development needs. Then what is the role of these women? How are they on the board of the federation? Do they even exist?” the statement said, including screenshots of a conversation on a BBF chat group with female players where the players were asking how many female members of the BBF board there were.
The statement also said several veteran female players have shown interest in being part of the federation to assist in the development of women’s basketball, but the BBF operates “like a closed knit syndicate where outsiders are not allowed to be recruited and contribute to progress for women.”
As a member of the national team, Ashreen participated in 6 international events since 2009, including the first South Asian Women’s Basketball (SABA) Championship in 2016
Posted by Sports Tribune on Monday, 24 September 2018
BBF: Allegations are all false
When contacted by Dhaka Tribune and asked about the allegations, BBF General Secretary AK Sarkar said none of the allegations are true.
Regarding the selection of women’s basketball teams, he said a selection committee is formed whenever there is an event, and the committee is responsible for all selection decisions.
“The selection committee is formed on a case-by-case basis. Whenever there is a tournament, a committee is formed. We do not really have a large pool of female players to choose from,” he added.
The BBF secretary general also claimed female players cannot commit the time and do not show up for training properly.
“Ranjit [Chandra Das] and Sabuj [Miah] are the ones who look after the development of women’s basketball. What we tried this time was to send them to each of the upazilas and conducted training camps there. Through the camps, we brought in some female players who could attend training camps properly, with a focus on trying to build a sustainable team,” he said.
“Many women have jobs or classes at school, so they cannot give the time necessary for practice or training. Some of them also do not really have the strength necessary for intense training,” AK Sarkar added.
“When you have a pool of maybe 10-15 female players to choose from, who would you choose? You select the people who have the physical strength and endurance and those who can give time to training. We do not focus on those who cannot give time,” he further said.
BBF executive member Ranjit Chandra Das, also organizer of basketball teams Hornets FC and Dhaka Warriors, said: “First, regarding the allegations against me and the way they want to remove everybody at the current federation, on this I disagree. You cannot just remove everyone and replace them with everyone from their [the female player’s] side. They might have hidden motives.”
Regarding the age discrimination issue, he said: “We have requirements from FIBA. We must do the U16, U18, U19 and U23 tournaments. We also have open categories where there are no age restrictions, as is the case with an upcoming tournament. I had to argue to organize the tournament in such a way to ensure maximum participation from women.”
Former women’s national basketball team captain Ashreen Mridha, also founder of non-profit Deshi Ballers, told Dhaka Tribune: “There are at least 80-100 women who regularly play basketball at any tournament in Dhaka alone. The claim that there is a small pool of players to choose from is simply not true.”
Regarding the BBF’s comments on certain female players being unable to give their time due to jobs or school, she said: “The federation did not even pay salaries or have proper contracts for female players. If they create a proper league for women and arrange proper training camps, instead of what they claim are camps, then they would have the opportunity to pursue sports professionally. In that case, maybe they would not need to have other jobs.”
Deshi Ballers is a non-profit organization that works for the promotion and development of women’s basketball in Bangladesh.