Soccer’s Hijab Ban Driving Muslimas from the Sport

By Parvez Fatteh, Founder of http://sportingummah.com, sports@muslimobserver.com

The controversial decision by soccer’s governing body, FIFA, to ban the hijab in women’s competition is having a ripple effect on the participation of Muslim women in the sport, according to Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein of Jordan. Al-Hussein, who is also a FIFA vice-president, conveyed these observations to Reuters, along with his fears that the alienation of Muslim female soccer players will only grow if the decision is not reversed at a meeting next month.

Last year the Iranian women’s soccer team was prevented from playing their 2012 Olympic second round qualifying match against Jordan because they refused to remove their hijabs before kick-off. Iran had topped their group in the first round of Olympic qualifiers after going undefeated, however the Asian nation were given 3-0 defeats in their four second round matches because of their failure to comply with the rules, their dreams of competing in London abruptly ended.

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