National Post Staff
Malawi international soccer player Tabitha Chawinga has called for better safeguards against women in the sport in Malawi, saying that she has been forced to strip publicly multiple times to prove that she is female.
© Provided by National Post Tabitha Chawinga has called for better safeguards against women footballers in Malawi, saying that she has been asked to strip publicly to prove that she is female.
The 25-year-old, who now plays for Wuhan Jianghan University FC in the Chinese Women’s Super League, told the Guardian that she has been asked twice to strip publicly during a match, in front of the opposition.
The first time, she said, happened when she was only 13 years old and was playing for a girls’ school team. Her opponents did not believe she was female because of her looks and her impressive performance.
“I had never been so devastated and I cried at the embarrassment that I had been exposed to. I wanted to walk out right away but somehow my teammates consoled me and I decided to finish the game,” she said. The incident had made her quit the sport for a year.
A year later, she played for the Malawi capital Lilongwe women’s soccer team, DD Sunshine, which she said was her first step into a professional soccer career.
She had been asked to undress on the pitch during a women’s Presidential Cup match.
“We were participating in a Presidential Cup match and for our first game we travelled to Blantyre to play Blantyre Zero. It was a very difficult game and while it was being played, I was undressed right in the ground,” Chawinga told the Guardian. “I lost it right at that moment and we ended up losing the game as well.”
DD Sunshine’s owner, David Dube, said that the club had complained to the Football Association of Malawi but did not receive a response.
At the time, Chawinga did not take up the issue with the authorities since she was so young, she said, but now she wanted to speak out.
“When I was being stripped, I was young and I didn’t know my rights. But if we talk about rights, they should be implemented. I am encouraging those women who have a passion for football that everything is possible. And being born different is not the end of the world,” said Chawinga, whose sister Temwa also plays in China.
“I would like to ask the government and the sports officials to make sure that the rights of every player are protected. This is the way I was born and I know I am God’s creation. I can’t change how I look,” she said.
Alfred Gunda, the current general secretary of the Football Association of Malawi, was not with the organization at the time Chawinga’s club had filed the complaint. He told the Guardian: “What happened is not right and we cannot condone it and that’s why we encourage, in this day and age, that officials take responsibility and take care of the players as their own kids, and also make sure that any incidents that happen are reported and the right measures are taken so that we protect our girls.”
Chawinga went on to captain the Malawi national team and became the first woman to sign for a European football team when she joined the Swedish club Krokom/Dvärsätts IF in 2014.
The 25-year-old, who now plays for Wuhan Jianghan University FC in the Chinese Women’s Super League, told the Guardian that she has been asked twice to strip publicly during a match, in front of the opposition.
The first time, she said, happened when she was only 13 years old and was playing for a girls’ school team. Her opponents did not believe she was female because of her looks and her impressive performance.
“I had never been so devastated and I cried at the embarrassment that I had been exposed to. I wanted to walk out right away but somehow my teammates consoled me and I decided to finish the game,” she said. The incident had made her quit the sport for a year.
A year later, she played for the Malawi capital Lilongwe women’s soccer team, DD Sunshine, which she said was her first step into a professional soccer career.
She had been asked to undress on the pitch during a women’s Presidential Cup match.
“We were participating in a Presidential Cup match and for our first game we travelled to Blantyre to play Blantyre Zero. It was a very difficult game and while it was being played, I was undressed right in the ground,” Chawinga told the Guardian. “I lost it right at that moment and we ended up losing the game as well.”
DD Sunshine’s owner, David Dube, said that the club had complained to the Football Association of Malawi but did not receive a response.
At the time, Chawinga did not take up the issue with the authorities since she was so young, she said, but now she wanted to speak out.
“When I was being stripped, I was young and I didn’t know my rights. But if we talk about rights, they should be implemented. I am encouraging those women who have a passion for football that everything is possible. And being born different is not the end of the world,” said Chawinga, whose sister Temwa also plays in China.
“I would like to ask the government and the sports officials to make sure that the rights of every player are protected. This is the way I was born and I know I am God’s creation. I can’t change how I look,” she said.
Alfred Gunda, the current general secretary of the Football Association of Malawi, was not with the organization at the time Chawinga’s club had filed the complaint. He told the Guardian: “What happened is not right and we cannot condone it and that’s why we encourage, in this day and age, that officials take responsibility and take care of the players as their own kids, and also make sure that any incidents that happen are reported and the right measures are taken so that we protect our girls.”
Chawinga went on to captain the Malawi national team and became the first woman to sign for a European football team when she joined the Swedish club Krokom/Dvärsätts IF in 2014.
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