Muslim girl kicked off soccer team for not removing hijab
 

From CTV.CA

I can understand the argument from both sides. We all know that safety somes first, but the girl was able to play in other games without having to remove her hijab, and it did not prove to be a saftey hazard because it was was not loose, it has to be tied on tight so that is will not fall off while she as running.

What do you all think, was the referee doing the right thing?

Hey, Teacher, Leave those Hijabs alone!

I think the Hijab is a good thing, the parents will ALWAYS know where there child is on the field during the game.

http://media.canada.com/44030ae1-b47...27hajib375.jpg

I've never played soccer and watch it infrequently at best, but I cannot see how her hijab could cause harm to anyone. Seems pretty ridiculous to me.

It's just tragic that a child has to experience exclusion from ordinary societal function because of a belief system which they have no self-determination in.

She wasn't kicked off the team -- her teammates and coach stood by her and they forfeited the game together.

It was a horrible decision by the referee, who kicked her off the field. Her hijab -- a light fabric -- was tucked into her neckline of the shirt, and posed absolutely no danger to other players or to herself.

She had also played in previous games of the tournament with no problems, and none of the previous referees had any issues with the hijab.

Yeah, like a hijab would be such a safety threat to others.
"The bright colours distracted me!" *BAM!*
Honestly...wow.

I can kind of understand the whole safety angle. Now, if the picture above is accurate, it looks like it's wrapped pretty tight. As long as it stays like that, it's not bothering anyone. Still, I imagine if it somehow came loose, with all the running around and such, she would have a hard time seeing. And if you can't see, you can't see where you're putting your cleats. That's just a guess though... it may just fall off harmlessly if it came undone.

The other side seems pretty silly though. I'm sure it has some religious significance (which I couldn't possibly care less about), but even so, it sounds like she was the only girl on her team wearing one of them. Seems to me like it's not vitally important if all the other girls left theirs in mom's minivan. It's a hat, for crying out loud--put it back on after the game.

I say they totally overreacted. If the ref had said 'hey, you look like a Muslim, get off my field', then I would agree with their decision to drop out of the tournament. I don't think people should be excluded from things like this based on their religion, but I don't think that anyone should get special privileges for that reason either. If you allow crap like that, you're going to start seeing Flying Spaghetti Monster sombreros and the like, and you'll have nobody to blame for it but yourself.

This is the actual problem -- total lack of respect and understanding.

What's worse, tenseiken (and a whole lot of other people) probably doesn't even realize it.

I don't really see a problem with her wearing it, it's certainly not a safety issue. But to me, I think people in a regulated sports event should all have a uniform set of clothing. It's where the term "uniform" comes from. It just makes sure everything is fair, regardless of how silly it may be to imagine wearing a hijab is unfair.

It's like when you were in school and you ask for something specifically for yourself and the teacher replies "Well now, if YOU got a cookie, then EVERYone should want a cookie." I could see things like this getting out of hand if kids started wanting to wear their little fashionable caps, skirts, etc. It's not safety risk, right?

That's why I say "Regulated wear across the board with only slight allowances for deviation."

I wonder if it's because the ref was Muslim as well that he felt he could speak out about it? I could imagine some other refs might not have brought it up in the possibility that they'd get "Well, you just don't like Muslims!" thrown in their face.

As a fellow soccer referee, I can sort of understand the decision. She technically isn't allowed to wear it (shin guards, shorts, socks, jersey and cleats are what is allowed), but the ref is obviously being too harsh. I've let players play with religious symbols (bracelet/turbans for Sikhs), and I would allow a hijab. This ref was either an ass or a noob. I don't know any other Quebec refs that would have made the same decision.

Guys. Those are the Soccer's rules. The referee applied them. End of the story.

Now, as to discuss the actual validity of Soccer rules is an entirely different thing. Sheesh. People can't help but take every issues from an emotional point of view, nowadays.

This is actually a big issue in Quebec these days ever since the Herouxville incident. Les "accomodements raisonables" (reasonable accomodations) have been huge in Quebec for a few months now.

My take on the matter: complete overreaction.

No, not for the reasons tenseiken stated. The precedent had already been set when Mansour was allowed to wear her hijab for other games in the tournament. This was simply a bad call by the referee, and the sensible way to go about it would be to finish the game with another substitute and tender a complaint later. Boycotting the tournament en masse over the actions of one official, who certainly doesn't represent the entirety of the governing authorities, is simply a knee-jerk reaction which will just end up attracting unwanted and unproductive bitchfests over tangential topics (like every religious/racial controversy ever). Not to mention you've just disrupted a good part of the tournament proceedings.

This doesn't mean that Mansour has an irrevocable right to wear the hijab. If a ruling against headscarves had been explicitly stipulated in the regulations and Mansour barred from playing with the hijab from the get-go, then they wouldn't have much of a case. Consider an incident elsewhere, where a couple of Muslim students in a public school were barred from wearing headscarves in violation of the uniform code. The controversy was quickly quelled when the highest Islamic authority of Singapore (where this happened) issued a statement in support of the school authorities -- since "education was more important than headscarves" and that the rule only applied for the few hours they were in school.

Now that makes sense.

Wow, taken out of context like that, I look even more like a jerk, don't I? I was wondering how long it would take before my abrasive tone rubbed someone wrong. :D If respect and understanding is the real problem here, then what about the ref who, according to the quoted article, is a Muslim? I'm sure he understands and respects Islam more than I do.

I'm going to risk sounding abrasive again and say that I don't respect people for being members of a religion. I don't respect organized religions themselves, either. I simply don't find either to be worthy of respect. I don't respect people for saying their favorite color is red, either. I do, however, respect their right to affiliate themselves however they please, and I respect their right to make their child wear a scarf on her head.

But things like that have a time and a place. Strictly speaking, they were supposed to be in uniform. I'm sure there was something to that effect in the disclaimer or whatever the parents had to sign in order to get their kid enrolled in the league. Insisting on wearing it, despite the obvious uniform rule, makes it seem like they just wanted to stir the pot a little, particularly since she was (apparently) the only one wearing one.

Still, if I had been in the ref's shoes, I'd have ignored it and let her play, if only to avoid the ensuing shitstorm that always happens in cases like these. It's just a kids' soccer league, after all. The refs weren't particularly picky about uniforms when I was in a kid soccer league either, as long as one team was one color and the other team was another, and as long as you could see each player's number.

Oh, and I'm right there with you on finishing the game and filing a complaint later. The coach should've gotten the ref's name, and then let the rest of the kids play. Pulling the team(s) out of the tournament was a pretty obvious attention play.

This is a possibility, too. She may have been allowed to play by other refs in the tournament for the second reason you cited. They could claim "rules are rules" until they were blue in the face, but they would have still been labeled haters.

Now, the reaction to the ref who DID take a stand was uncalled for. Forfeiting the game because he was right? Blah's correct. The game should have been continued with another player, then a formal protest submitted. He knows what the hijab means--probably more than any other ref, and STILL he asked for it to be removed.

It's possible he WAS concerned for the girl's safety. One good grab of the hijab, and the girl can be strangled.

We had (and most probably will have) this issue here with the respect of laïcité in public schools. Modern French people are usually pretty fast to be fucktards and think with their bleeding hearts rather than with their brains as well, but the French Revolution heritage makes that the Laïcité concept is still a very respected one in the public opinion. The last major crisis was thus settled quite fast, for a change.

Um. I can't see a hijab being a major danger as jewellry would be, but still, it's not exactly on the kit list is it? The idea of a uniform is that everyone looks the same. It reminds me of that case about flight attendants who wanted to be able to wear hijabs and veils, yet christians couldn't wear small crosses. We all adhere to the same kind of restrictions.

Oh, I certainly wasn't referring to him when I said that. But if you're going to have a civil debate on, say, whether headscarves should be allowed on the football field, dismissing their beliefs as insignificant is rather unlikely to sit well with even the moderates. In fact, calling the hijab a goddamn hat is an insult to my cognizant ability.

And, to be honest, I found your shitty slippery slope argument much more "abrasive" than that. Flying Spaghetti Monster sombreros haha oh dear

(Note: by "respect" I don't mean "genuflect", it is just formal substitution for "don't be a dick")

The problem is: the hijab is considered by many NOT to be a religious symbol, but rather a cultural one.

I think it's completely fair. If I can't wear a fucking watch or other jewelry while I'm playing a sport, no one else should be able to either. If I were the ref, I wouldn't have called her on it since it isn't a safety hazard at all (just like a watch or a ring), but she's the one who's playing soccer and agreeing to play by the rules that everyone has to follow.

I think the referee was out of order if the girl has played other games and been allowed it on. It maybe the rules of the game but its still unfair for the girl to be ejected from the game. Seeing as the referee was a uslim himself surely he would understand that it is part of her culture to wear one.
Although I can see the concern of it being a safety hazard, if it wasn't loose, it was tied tightly and was tucked into her shorts. It didn't fall while she was running I can't see the problem. It's not like it could've been used as a weapon like a ring, long nails or a watch.

The other thing is if FIFA had made a rule about hijabs then I could understand the referees decision but there is nothing about it mentioned. I think he was out of order slightly by doing this.

I would have at least made sure that the hijab was safely secure. At the same time, it was the interpretation of the rule that the referee made the decision. Maybe itwasa bad call, but he was just interpreting the rules. Unfortunetly, some referees interpret things differently. But yeah, you would think there would be some sort of flexibility.

As hilarious as you and your juvenile trolling are, I want to know where you got the notion that the entire team was some kind of Muslim-only gang.

You can't strangle someone with that any more than you could with a t-shirt. Like any other shirt, a grab could choke you for a second and leave you winded and offbalance, maybe haul you off your feet if it's vicious enough with one mean landing on your back/head. But last I heard shirts weren't banned as safety calamities. (Aside from the brasilians who rip them off at every opportunity)