{"id":3255,"date":"2014-03-01T21:45:44","date_gmt":"2014-03-02T05:45:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=3255"},"modified":"2014-03-01T21:45:44","modified_gmt":"2014-03-02T05:45:44","slug":"fifa-panel-officially-allows-turbans-hijabs-in-soccer-after-quebec-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/03\/01\/fifa-panel-officially-allows-turbans-hijabs-in-soccer-after-quebec-controversy\/","title":{"rendered":"FIFA panel officially allows turbans, hijabs in soccer after Quebec controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Photo: Facebook Page of FIFA<\/p>\n

MONTREAL – Soccer’s international rule-making body has given a final go-ahead to allow players to wear religious head coverings during games, clarifying an issue that stirred controversy in Quebec last summer.<\/p>\n

A FIFA panel known as the International Football Association Board made the decision Saturday, extending a two-year trial period during which hijabs were permitted. Turbans will also be allowed.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Last year, Quebec’s soccer federation set off a political firestorm \u2014 and was suspended by the Canadian Soccer Association \u2014 for enforcing a ban on turbans and other religious headwear.<\/p>\n

The federation lifted the ban after FIFA clarified last June that such headwear was acceptable.<\/p>\n

A spokesman for the Quebec Soccer Federation said they are satisfied with the decision and plan to follow the rules.<\/p>\n

“All we’ve wanted, for years, is to have a clear position (from FIFA) and rules to follow, and now we know what to do, and we’ll do it,” said Michel Dugas.<\/p>\n

The decision on head coverings follows extra trials after a July 2012 decision to approve scarves worn by Islamic female players.<\/p>\n

FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said Saturday’s decision extended to male players following a request from Sikh community leaders in Canada.<\/p>\n

“You cannot have discrimination,” Valcke said at a news conference in Zurich, Switzerland. “It was decided that what can apply to female players can also apply to men.”<\/p>\n

Last year, the Quebec organization had cited safety issues for its controversial move as well as the fact the garments were not endorsed by FIFA.<\/p>\n

The Parti Quebecois government came out in favour of the federation\u2019s position, while many federal politicians slammed it as exclusionary.<\/p>\n

Dugas maintained the federation wasn’t trying to create problems and only wanted to get clarity from FIFA.<\/p>\n

“It’s a debate that isn’t easy, and that’s probably why it took so long,” he said.<\/p>\n

– with files from Catherine Gignac<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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