Allegations are supposed to be heard in a court of law, and punishment imposed by the state only after guilt has been established. Yet an increasingly troubling pattern is emerging in Bangladesh.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has failed to escape criticism despite apologising amid the controversy. He expressed regret to the FIFA Council over the scrapped “FIFA Forward Enterprise” (FFE) project, but representatives of two of Europe’s most influential football nations, England and Germany, were not satisfied. They said the necessary administrative reforms of world football’s governing body cannot be achieved under the current leadership.
Prison walls are meant to keep inmates behind bars, but overcrowding is stripping away even their last measure of comfort. Facilities intended to hold people awaiting trial have become places where finding room to sleep is a daily struggle. Burdened with more than twice their intended population, Bangladesh’s prisons have become a stark reflection of a growing humanitarian crisis.
The season is changing, but winter appears to be taking its time. The familiar signs of autumn—white clouds drifting across the sky, dew settling on grass at dawn and a coolness in the air—have arrived unevenly across Bangladesh. While early mornings are beginning to carry a hint of winter, the heat of the day has yet to fully retreat.
Lionel Messi will pull on the sky-blue and white shirt for the last time at the Estadio Monumental tonight, ending a 20-year relationship with Argentina's home ground when the World Cup winners take on Benin in a friendly.
October seems to be a silent bridge of seasonal change. The wet scent of the monsoon still lingers in the air, white autumn clouds float in the sky; yet within the northern wind is the tune of winter's arrival. Sometimes the sharp sting of sunshine, sometimes sudden splashes of rain, and at other times the sight of the river's breast covered in morning mist — October is passing in the colours of diversity.