Tanzanian president Samia Suluhu made controversial remarks as she referred to female footballers within the country during a brief ceremony. “If we line them up here, there are those who are flat-chested, you could think they are not women, they are men,” Suluhu stated while hosting the country’s U23 men’s national team which triumphed at the recent Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) Challenge Cup in Ethiopia.
While receiving the trophy at State House in Dar-es-Salaam, Suluhu further suggested the ‘institution of marriage will remain a mere dream to female players owing to their flat chests’. She further stated that although some of the female footballers were married, they lacked appealing physical attributes which makes it almost impossible to find suitors. “And if you look at their faces, you might wonder, because if you want to get married, you want someone who is attractive, a lady who has the qualities you want,” she pointed out.
Samia's comments were widely derided online :
"The comment by president @SuluhuSamia on women footballers is a humiliation to all women," said Catherine Ruge, the head of the women's wing of the opposition Chadema party and a former MP.
Zanzibar native, Samia is a muslim by faith and third wife to her husband. She succeeded President John Pombe Magufuli, who passed on from suspected COVID-19 complications this year.