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The Globe & Mail – March 3, 2007
FIFA forbids head scarves
Ottawa girl's ejection sparked debate
MANCHESTER, England - Soccer's legislators have ruled that no player can wear a head scarf on the field.
The International Football Association Board was asked at its annual meeting Saturday to adjudicate on a decision to ban an 11-year-old Muslim girl from playing in a tournament near Montreal last weekend because she was wearing a head scarf.
"If you play football there's a set of laws and rules, and law four outlines the basic equipment," said Brian Barwick, chief executive of the English Football Association, which is one of the IFAB members.
"It's absolutely right to be sensitive to people's thoughts and philosophies, but equally there has to be a set of laws that are adhered to, and we favour law four being adhered to."
Law four lists the items a player is entitled to wear and head scarves are not mentioned.
Goalkeepers are allowed to wear caps and protective headguards.
Asmahan Mansour was told to either remove her hijab or leave the field in an under-12 tournament near Montreal…
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070303.wheadscarfban0303/BNStory/Front
CAIR-CAN – March 5, 2007
Canadian Muslims ask FIFA to clarify hijab stance
Ottawa, Canada - Mar 5, 2007 - The Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN) today called on the International Football Association Board (FIFA), soccer's top decision-making body, to clarify its position on the right of women players to wear a religiously-mandated headscarf, or hijab.
Over the weekend, FIFA board members backed a Quebec referee's controversial decision to prevent an 11-year-old girl from taking part in a match while wearing hijab. Her team, and others in the tournament, walked out in protest. While the board backed the referee's decision, it stopped short of issuing a clear ruling on the issue of Muslim players wearing hijab.
"By avoiding a clear ruling on this important issue, FIFA is creating a situation in which Muslim parents in Canada and worldwide may feel reluctant to have their daughters play soccer," said CAIR-CAN Executive Director Karl Nickner.
"For decades women have struggled to have equal opportunity and treatment on the playing field. In remaining ambiguous on the question of hijab and backing the Quebec referee's decision, FIFA has effectively blocked millions of women from playing the sport," said Sarah Elgazzar, CAIR-CAN spokeswoman.
"On the one hand, FIFA promotes soccer amongst women by featuring hijab-clad players on their website; on the other, they have given free rein to individual referees to allow or prohibit the hijab. This situation is untenable," she added.
Nickner said CAIR-CAN is available to help resolve any perceived safety issues related to hijab through creative solutions such as Velcro fasteners on the player's scarf.
CAIR-CAN is asking people of conscience around the world to contact FIFA and ask that the organization clarify its position on hijab.
CONTACT FIFA:
SEE: http://www.fifa.com/en/contact.html
Federation Internationale de Football Association
FIFA-Strasse 20,
P.O. Box 8044 Zurich, Switzerland
Tel : +41-(0)43 222 7777
Fax : +41-(0)43 222 7878
E-MAIL: media@fifa.org, info@fifa.org, contact@fifa.org
Reuters – March 7, 2007
Muslims protest at Canada football hijab ban
Scott Valentine
TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian Muslims may launch a human rights complaint against football's governing body after a Quebec referee ordered an 11-year-old girl to quit a tournament for refusing to remove her hijab.
The Canadian Council on American-Islam Relations said the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was sending a mixed message on its rules, given that its own Web site includes pictures of women wearing the hijab, a scarf that covers the head and neck.
"If FIFA does not provide a clear position on the right of women to wear the hijab in competition we will look at the possibility of filing a human rights complaint on behalf of Muslim women who want to play football, and not be persecuted for practising their beliefs," said executive director Karl Nickner.
The 11-year-old girl, Asmahan Mansour, was ordered off the field by a Muslim referee during an indoor football tournament in the Montreal suburb of Laval, Quebec, on February 25 after refusing to remove her hijab.
FIFA spokesman Pekka Odriozola said it was up to regional and national associations to decide how to interpret football's Law 4, which says a player must not "use equipment or wear anything that is dangerous to himself/herself or another player".
"But each match official must decide how to apply the rules," he added.
The law, as displayed on FIFA's Web site, also says "modern protective equipment such as headgear, facemasks, knee and arm protectors made of soft, lightweight, padded material are not considered to be dangerous and are therefore permitted,"
Odriozola could explain why the Web site included photos of players wearing the hijab.
"(The International Football Association Board) determined last weekend that anything related to players equipment is covered under Law 4 of the rules of the game," he said. "In official matches the laws of the game have to be applied."
That seems like foul play to Nickner of the Canadian Muslim group.
"FIFA backed the decision to support the Quebec referee in prohibiting a player from wearing the hijab," he said. "Yet the FIFA Web site shows pictures of women players wearing a hijab."
This is not the first incident involving football players ejected from a game for wearing religious headgear in Canada….
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=365822007
Missourian – March 23, 2007
Non-Muslims wear scarves in solidarity
Cristi Parker
Danielle Campbell, her electric blue hair peeking out from under the scarf wrapped around her head, was happy not to get noticed as much for one day.
“I usually have these punk boys who hang out where I work and every time I walk by they have something to say,” said Campbell, a senior at MU who works at Brady Food Court. “But today I just walked on by. It was nice.”
Scarves for Solidarity, an event organized by the women of the Muslim Student Organization at MU, took place Thursday on MU campus. The event encourages non-Muslim women to cover their hair for a day to show solidarity with Muslim women and to learn a little about life as an American Muslim. A discussion to reflect on the women’s experiences took place Thursday night at Memorial Union.
Hiba Jaafari, a sophomore, led the event’s organization after she heard about its success at other campuses. Similar events have been organized across the country, including one called “Wear a Hijab/Turban Day” in Fremont, Calif., organized in response to the 2006 killing of an Afghan woman in the community.
The first Scarves for Solidarity event was organized in 2001 in Washington, following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“We figured, thank God we don’t have to worry about that as much here, six years later,” Farah Naz, an MU student, said. “We just wanted to bring it to the MU campus.”
The women who tried the scarf for a day said they did not encounter negative reactions. But hate crimes against Muslims spiked in 2001 after Sept. 11, according to the FBI’s National Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Hate crimes against Muslims were less common in 2005, but they are still higher than before Sept. 11.
Hend El-Buri, a sophomore, led the discussion and explained the benefits of wearing a hijab. The conversation moved from religion to makeup. El-Buri said that makeup is a woman’s personal choice, just like the hijab itself.
The experience of wearing her blue scarf made Danielle Koonce, a senior, feel a little more self-conscious. “When I see a woman wearing the scarf, I look because I am admiring her,” Koonce said. “So I just tried to keep that in mind.” ….
http://columbiamissourian.com/news/story.php?ID=24869
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