French women's match called off over headscarves

Football's world governing body FIFA banned players from wearing the headscarf in 2007, claiming it is unsafe.


Afp March 19, 2012
French women's match called off over headscarves

NARBONNE: A referee on Sunday refused to officiate a French women's football match, when players for one of the teams took the pitch wearing Muslim headscarves, the club involved said.

The official sent a report to the Languedoc-Roussillon league in the south of the country about the incident involving players from Petit-Bard Montpellier, who had been due to play Narbonne in the regional promotion tie.

The league must now decide whether to order the match to be replayed or to award a win to Narbonne.

The two teams played a friendly match instead, with Narbonne winning 7-6.

Football's world governing body FIFA banned players from wearing the headscarf in 2007, claiming it is unsafe.

But football federations and even the United Nations have urged FIFA to lift the ban, maintaining that concerns about safety are baseless and that it discriminates against Muslim players, particularly when no such restrictions apply in other sports.

Iran's women's team last year forfeited a 2012 Olympic qualifier because players wouldn't play without wearing hijabs.

COMMENTS (14)

VK | 12 years ago | Reply

Simple thing, if u cant abide by rule just dont play... why to mix ur religion with sports... there is no room for fanatics in games ... just clear off the field

renata | 12 years ago | Reply

There's a limit to religious freedom, and there's a limit to what can be and should be tolerated. Veil is not just a piece of cloth, it's a mindset, a very poisonous one. If France tolerates veil, veil shall not tolerate France, hence it's better to nip the evil in the bud. Otherwise France will one day look like present day Pakistan or Afghanistan or even worse.

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