Tasfia Chowdhury, a female basketball player of the national team, has decided to quit the South Asian Games camp after bringing allegations of physical, verbal and mental abuse against women’s basketball team coach Sabuj Miah.
The women’s basketball team travelled Kolkata on November 10 for a 12-day preparation camp, from where they returned home on Friday. According to Tasfia and her father Kawsar Chowdhury, the coach assaulted her in Kolkata and this was not the first such incident.
“It was during this trip (Novermber 10-22) she was physically assaulted, hit in the neck by her coach. She only informed us of this after returning, because she was worried about our mental wellbeing as concerned parents. Upon her return on Friday, she informed us of this event along with her decision to resign from the team,” Kawsar said in an e-mail sent Sunday.
Attaching a video of physical abuse of other basketball players in BKSP during the SA Games in camp in late October, Kawsar brought this complaint to the Olympics committee. In the complaint, he said: “I had gone as a parent to talk to the coaches about the physical safety of the women in the team on November 5. My calm and logical approach was met with shouting and illogical retorts.”
An emotional Tasfia, who dropped one of the semesters at the private university where she is studying in order to participate in the SA Games, said over the phone: “I have been playing basketball since my childhood. I even dropped a semester for the team. The coach has been assaulting the girls since August and now, with what has happened to me, I have decided to stand up for the girls, because this is not morally right.”
Sabuj Miah denied the allegations and said: “I did not hit or slap anyone.”
Former women’s team head coach and current men’s team coach Ranjit Das said: “I think her father brought these allegations on emotional grounds. Sometimes the coach scolds the players for their reluctance in the training and slaps them softly, but that is not true physical assault.”
Bangladesh women’s basketball team left Dhaka for India Sunday for a preparation camp, ahead of the South Asian Games next month.https://t.co/kivZXLAedt#BASKETBALL #BANGLADESH #BANGLADESHBASKETBALL #BBF #BASKETBALLFEDERATION #BANGLADESHFEDERATION #SOUTHASIANGAMES #SOUTH #ASIAN
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) November 10, 2019
BOA Vice President Sheikh Bashir Ahmed Mamun said they will sit for a meeting with both parties today.
“Such an incident also took place in swimming and taekwondo before, and we took necessary steps afterwards and didn’t allow the accused to go abroad. Our stance is zero tolerance against any physical assault to the athletes in any situation,” he said.
