MONFALCONE, Sept 6 — Under the scorching sun on Italy’s Adriatic coast, a group of Bangladeshi friends practise cricket on a small patch of concrete outside the Italian town of Monfalcone.
The town has effectively banned cricket, with fines of up to €100 for those caught playing in town limits, the BBC reported today.
“If we were playing inside Monfalcone, the police would have already got here to stop us,” team captain Miah Bappy told the British news agency.
The ban symbolises deeper tensions in Monfalcone, where nearly a third of the population are foreigners, mostly Bangladeshi Muslims who arrived in the late 1990s.
Mayor Anna Maria Cisint, elected on an anti-immigration platform, argued that the town’s cultural essence is at risk.
In her two terms, Cisint has reportedly removed benches from the town square and criticised the clothing of Muslim women at the beach.
Cisint claimed there is no space or funds to build a cricket pitch and that cricket balls pose a danger, adding that Bangladeshi immigrants have not contributed positively to the town.
A staff member from Fincantieri shipyard, where many Bangladeshi workers are employed, disputes the mayor’s claims about wage dumping, stating that salaries align with Italian law.
Italy faces a labour shortage and low birth rates, necessitating an influx of foreign workers, a fact acknowledged even by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, despite her anti-immigration stance.
Cisint has also restricted collective prayer at local Islamic centres, citing urban planning issues and claiming the centres are not designated for religious worship.
Bangladeshi residents say the mayor’s actions have had a severe impact on their community, with accusations of harassment and a sense of alienation growing.
In response to the Italian court’s recent ruling in favour of the Islamic centres, Cisint has vowed to continue her campaign against what she calls the “Islamisation of Europe,” and will soon take her message to Brussels in Belgium as an EU Parliament member.
