Sudanese female journalist Nahid Albaqer suffer heavy verbal aggression from members of her national team during FIFA Arab Cup 2021
Nahid Basheer Albaqer at Ahmed Bin Ali stadium in Doha.
DOHA, December 9, 2021 - Last Friday, an unfortunate incident repeated itself, bringing to the fore the difficult conditions female journalists working in the field suffer, especially during the pandemic. During the FIFA Arab Cup 2021, technical staff members from the Sudanese national team verbally, while another almost physically, assaulted female journalist Nahid Basheer Albaqer – who is from Sudan - after she published a report on Alfajar Alsudani Newspaper that stated: “Confiscation of 50kg of chewing tobacco from the Sudanese football delegation participating in Arab Cup upon their arrival at the Hamad International Airport, by the Qatari customs”.
A BLACK FRIDAY The incident happened in Al-Markhiya Stadium during Team Sudan’s training in preparation for the second round of the Arab Cup group stage last Friday, when technical staff members spotted Nahid and approached her criticizing the latest published work by her in an inappropriate manner under the justification that it harms the reputation of Sudan. Her calm response from the shock of the situation aggravated another Sudanese player, Mohamed Abdel-Rahman, who almost laid hands on her before people around from FIFA media coordinators, Organizing Committee officials and Security contained the situation. Nahid instantly left afterwards to avoid any escalations.
INVALID COMPLAINT Rumors say the Sudanese team filed a complaint to FIFA on Nahid to revoke her accreditation and even some stories title "Journalist kicked out from stadium" rose, but FIFA punched back on spot with a reply saying that Nahid did not commit any offences in her journalistic work within the premises of Arab Cup 2021 and she is allowed to cover training, matches and has full press access like any other accredited journalist, Team Sudan has the personal right to answer or not answer any of her questions. On her part, Nahid filed a complaint too about the harassment and misconduct that happened for simply doing her job.
A SCREAM FOR JUSTICE Nahid urges to combat violence against journalists and especially women - who are considered the underdogs in some communities, as this was not her first and maybe not the last encounter with such offensive situations: "Honestly, I thought about quitting my profession because I have to deal with such situations. If it wasn't for the people around me, I could have been physically harmed", "We should stand together against such encounters and demand more respect to people in our profession" Nahid stated.
The Sudanese Journalists Network offer their full solidarity with journalist Nahid Basheer Al-Baqer, in face of the fierce attack on her by the Sudanese General Football Association and some players of the national football team for practising her journalistic rights.
A BLACK FRIDAY The incident happened in Al-Markhiya Stadium during Team Sudan’s training in preparation for the second round of the Arab Cup group stage last Friday, when technical staff members spotted Nahid and approached her criticizing the latest published work by her in an inappropriate manner under the justification that it harms the reputation of Sudan. Her calm response from the shock of the situation aggravated another Sudanese player, Mohamed Abdel-Rahman, who almost laid hands on her before people around from FIFA media coordinators, Organizing Committee officials and Security contained the situation. Nahid instantly left afterwards to avoid any escalations.
INVALID COMPLAINT Rumors say the Sudanese team filed a complaint to FIFA on Nahid to revoke her accreditation and even some stories title "Journalist kicked out from stadium" rose, but FIFA punched back on spot with a reply saying that Nahid did not commit any offences in her journalistic work within the premises of Arab Cup 2021 and she is allowed to cover training, matches and has full press access like any other accredited journalist, Team Sudan has the personal right to answer or not answer any of her questions. On her part, Nahid filed a complaint too about the harassment and misconduct that happened for simply doing her job.
A SCREAM FOR JUSTICE Nahid urges to combat violence against journalists and especially women - who are considered the underdogs in some communities, as this was not her first and maybe not the last encounter with such offensive situations: "Honestly, I thought about quitting my profession because I have to deal with such situations. If it wasn't for the people around me, I could have been physically harmed", "We should stand together against such encounters and demand more respect to people in our profession" Nahid stated.
The Sudanese Journalists Network offer their full solidarity with journalist Nahid Basheer Al-Baqer, in face of the fierce attack on her by the Sudanese General Football Association and some players of the national football team for practising her journalistic rights.
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