Dhaka: Football world’s governing body FIFA is “following with concern” the detention of one of its officials for allegedly defaming the Bangladeshi prime minister, a FIFA spokesman said Tuesday. Mahfuza Akhter, a FIFA council member since 2017 and the national chief of women’s soccer, was arrested on Saturday after a local football organiser accused her of making derogatory comments about Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. A court in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka has granted her bail and she is expected to be released in a day or two, her lawyer said.
Mahfuza in a press conference last month criticised Hasina for neglecting football in the cricket-mad country. In an email to AFP, a FIFA spokesman said they “have requested further details about the situation of Ms Mahfuza Akhter and are currently awaiting information from the Bangladesh Football Federation.
