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'Asmahan Mansour' ("Azzy") is an 11-year-old Muslim girl who was ejected from a soccer game because she would not remove her hijab. The hijab is a headscarf, which leaves the face open, that is worn by some Muslim females. The case inflamed Quebec's argument about "reasonable accommodation" for minorities.
The Quebec Soccer Federation, the sport's governing body in the province, said Mansour was told to remove the hijab or risk not playing in a tournament in Laval, near Montreal. The federation claimed the hijab breaks a safety rule determined by FIFA, an international governing body of soccer.
Azzy and her team forfeited the game and the tournament, as did a number of other teams, all from the Ottawa area.
Some manufacturers sell sports hijabs, shorter than the normal version, and with a Velcro fastener for ease of removal.
"The hijab is part of her religion. She chose to wear it and I don't think there is any reason for her to stop wearing the hijab," her father told the Toronto Star. "There was no problem before. She has played lots of sports and suddenly this comes out of nowhere."
Others commentators denounced the referee's ruling as symptomatic of Quebec's intolerant attitude towards "cultural communities". The referee in question is a Muslim man as well, the Quebec Soccer Federation noted.
A memorandum dated 26 January 2007 from the Quebec federation states that "the wearing of the Islamic veil or any other religious item is not permitted." Valmie Ouellet, the co-ordinator of regional technical services for the Quebec Soccer Federation, added that a comparable ruling would be employed for a different faith community, such as Jews or Sikhs.

Contents

Reaction from politicians

Reactions from soccer officialdom

Reactions from civil rights organizations

Reactions from sports bodies

Sources

Reaction from politicians

Quebec Premier Jean Charest, a former soccer player, said he has attended games that were halted in order for players to push in shirts on a referee's call. "We're not trying to manage every soccer match in Quebec," said the provincial premier. "But it seems normal in the framework of sport that they would have rules like that."
"ADQ party leader Mario Dumont explicitly declared that Quebec had given too much ground in accommodating new residents. In his opinion, Quebec must write its own constitution and citizenship standards to remind newcomers about tolerable norms.
"We must not tolerate the intolerable," Dumont declared. He claimed that Quebec's "common values" are "unmovable," and immigrants are bound to them.
According to Parti Quebecois opposition leader Andre Boisclair, however, the premier should not involve himself in the controversy because it liable to civil litigation. He defended the girl's right to wear the hijab.
The Quebec federation's rules cover 175,000 soccer players, with females being 43 percent of those. Globally, there are 40 million women out of 240 million players of oganized matches.

Reactions from soccer officialdom

FIFA has popularized soccer in Muslim societies. It has specifically stated that hijabs are allowed. They are already sported by soccer-playing women in such diverse places as the Middle East and Australia. Mohamed El Rashidy, the director of the Canadian Arab Federation, said hijabi soccer players form a large group of the world's elite-level athletes.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) forms the rules for soccer internationally, while FIFA enforces them.
The Quebec ruling was ultimately referred to the IFAB for clarification. “This was added to the agenda because of the Laval incident,” added Maingot. The IFAB board, all male and none Muslim, ruled on the wearing of the hijab. It noted that Law Number Four of its Laws of the Game stipulates only four pieces of equipment are mandatory, and headscarves are not among them.
"It is ultimately up to the referee to determine if an item or equipment worn by a player is dangerous for him or her or for the other players," IFAB spokesman Nicholas Maingot stated.

Reactions from civil rights organizations

"The exclusion of Ottawa resident Asmahan Mansour from playing soccer in the Laval, Quebec, tournament because she wears a hijab strikes at the very heart of individual religious freedoms," Ontario Human Rights Coomission chief commissioner Barbara Hall wrote.
"It would be tragic if this decision deters other Muslim girls from participating in sporting events, or promotes other incidents of exclusion of Muslims from community life.
"Even when rules are set internationally, the policies and practices of sports organizations and their governing bodies must abide by provincial human rights legislation."
A spokesman for Quebec's Commission des droits de la personne et de la jeunesse refused to comment now as Asmahan may choose to file a complaint about the incident. He noted that it falls within the commission's mandate.
The Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN) offered to help settle any safety issues surrounding the hijab. The organization also asked concerned people around the world to ask FIFA to clarify its hijab policy.

Reactions from sports bodies

The Canadian Soccer Association's chief referee, Joe Guest, was disappointed with the Quebec regulation because the hijab does not engender any "on-field problems." He believes the FIFA regulations imply that head gear is permissible if safe.
"If you stick with Quebec's interpretation, players can't wear prescription eye-glasses. But they do," he said.
Sandra Campbell of the Canadian Soccer Association said FIFA has merely set compulsory equipment rules: "There's actually no specific rule ... that says that they can't wear any type of headgear." Regulations permitting religious headgear were enacted by CSA affiliates in British Columbia in 2005, and Ontario in 2006.
Consequently, British Muslim women are discouraged from playing. It could mean that national sides such as Iran will lose players.
Rimla Akhtar, chairwoman of the UK's Muslim Women's Sport Foundation, accused football chiefs bosses of delaying on the matter. "The International Football Association Board has not consulted the people who are directly affected by it - Muslim women," she said.[1]

Sources

★ "Canadian Muslims Ask FIFA to Clarify Hijab Stance" http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-05-2007/0004539811&EDATE=

★ "Charest backs soccer referee in hijab flap" http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070227.wcharest0227/BNStory/National/home

★ "Dumont criticizes PQ, Liberals over referendum hang-ups in election campaign" http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=e62daa9a-96c0-47e0-982b-ccb492674515&k=55035

★ "FIFA to discuss incident of Muslim girl" http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/6516460

★ FIFA should have overruled Quebec on hijab ban: ejected Ottawa girl's mother "http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=ca32f9d9-8b97-48c7-8946-c826e616d2af&k=77734&p=1

★ "FIFA hijab ruling deserves red card" http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/opinion/story.html?id=59f06a4e-5043-4c33-b82a-acd43195b3e4&p=1

★ "Headscarf ban inflames ethnic debate" http://www.thestar.com/News/article/186035

★ "Hijab ban in soccer is upheld" http://www.thestar.com/News/article/188030

★ "Hijab debate at 'very heart' of freedoms" http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=f1115a2b-4e4c-4511-a0c5-2e3a045369a6&k=10609

★ "Hijab debate none of Charest's business: Boisclair" http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=e866e703-4671-4a92-b897-84a35a8ff04d&k=43728

★ "Hijab soccer ban upheld: World body takes a pass, allows Quebec to maintain prohibition"
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=0875380c-b5cc-491a-afca-6d4b6229c225&k=2029&p=2

★ "Mishmash of values cloud campaign" http://www.therecord.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=record/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1173674134503&call_pageid=1024322168441&col=1024322596091

★ "Quebec soccer body to allow hijab if rule clarified" http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2007-02-27T191605Z_01_N27222384_RTRIDST_0_CANADA-SOCCER-SCARF-COL.XML&archived=False

★ "Soccer rule-makers bypass procedure to deal with hijab issue" http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=391b22fc-ef41-496c-bc70-bf34df9b3eec&k=27842