‘Resigned for abuse’
The father of a female basketball player made allegations against the coach of the national women’s team of physical assault and mental abuse of his daughter.
“My daughter resigned from the women’s national basketball team due to physical assault and mental abuse by coach Sabuj Miah during the tour of Kolkata from November 10 to 22,” Kawsar Chowdhury, the father of the player, said over phone yesterday, adding that they had also brought the allegations to the Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA).
The women’s basketball team had gone to Kolkata to play five practice matches as part of their preparations the upcoming South Asian Games. They are scheduled to leave here Nepal on December 3.
“My daughter was very keen on playing basketball from her school life. She even dropped a semester at university to be part of the national women’s team. She said before that their coach scolds girls. But when I spoke to them, my calm and logical approach was responded to with shouting and illogical retorts,” said Chowdhury.
“My daughter burst into tears after returning from Kolkata and said that she would not return to the national team as the coach not only assaulted her, but other girls too.”
Sabuj Miah denied the claims, saying: “I did not slap her or anyone else. It is a false allegation,” Sabuj Miah said. “Actually, the problem arose when I started training at 6:30am. In the morning, the roads were free and the girls got the opportunity to run, but her mother opposed it and her daughter was even late to training a few days.”
BBF executive member and men’s team head coach Ranjit Das, who initially guided the women’s team, said: “Sometimes a coach scolds players because of their reluctance in training and slaps them softly but that is not true physical assault. Besides, the guardians become emotional watching the hard training of their girls, whom we also love and cherish. I think her father made these allegations on emotional grounds.”
Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) Director General Fakhruddin Haider said he had asked the father to meet him: “We have not received any mail in this regard but I talked to her father and asked him to come [to the BOA] tomorrow [Sunday]. I will hear the incident from him and take measures accordingly.”
Last month, the Bangladesh national swimming team’s Japanese coach, Takeo Inoki, resigned and left for his home country after witnessing how junior swimmers were punished in cruel fashion.