Tanzania President says female footballers are flat-chested, are not attractive for marriage

Tanzania President Samia Suluhu has ruffled some feathers in the sports industry and observers after she described football footballers as flat-chested women who are unattractive for marriage. 

She made these remarks 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, she further suggested the ‘institution of marriage will remain a mere dream to female players owing to their flat chests’. 

The 61-year-old, Tanzania’s first female head of state who replaced deceased John Magufuli as President in March of 2021, further stated that although some of the female footballers were married, they lacked appealing physical attributes which makes it almost impossible to find suitors. 

“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. 

The President further appealed to Tanzanian authorities to ensure the future of sports people is well secured long after they have hung their boots from the sports arena while noting that most of those that had retired are struggling to make ends meet.