Bangladeshi golfer Siddikur Rahman, on Wednesday, pulled out of the Leopalace21 Myanmar Open, citing his support for Rohingya refugees, who have fled a military crackdown in the mainly Buddhist country.
Nearly 690,000 Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh since violence erupted in Myanmar’s Rakhine state in late August. Siddikur said he “felt a kind of uneasiness” about playing in the $750,000 Asian Tour tournament, which begins on Thursday in Yangon. “I support the Rohingyas that’s why I did not go. It might have sent a wrong message. Being a Muslim I also did not feel safe going there,” he told reporters in Dhaka.
Rahman is a golfing icon in Bangladesh and in 2016, became the first Bangladeshi to qualify automatically for the Olympics.
-With inputs from AFP