11-yr.-Old gil kicked out of soccer game because of religious garment

God · Foro Master

RE: 11-yr.-Old gil kicked out of soccer game because of religious garment

Quixote · Guru

I retract my post... I thought hijabs were longer and I was confusing them with a jilbab... shame on me.

-- Edited by Quixote at 12:57, 2007-02-27

Motown Junkie · TOP Guru

El Duro wrote:

Motown Junkie wrote:

El Duro wrote:

I as a soccer coach would do the same thing the coach did
I think anyone who's not an a$$hole would've done the same thing!!!!

That ref should be ashamed of himself!!!!

-- Edited by Motown Junkie at 16:28, 2007-02-26

and the worse thing is that the ref is a muslim

Really???

Now that doesn't sound right.

Then that wouldn't be discrimination now, would it? Unless it's because she's a Muslim woman..................

El Duro · Foro Master

Motown Junkie wrote:

El Duro wrote:

I as a soccer coach would do the same thing the coach did
I think anyone who's not an a$$hole would've done the same thing!!!!

That ref should be ashamed of himself!!!!

-- Edited by Motown Junkie at 16:28, 2007-02-26

and the worse thing is that the ref is a muslim

Motown Junkie · TOP Guru

El Duro wrote:

I as a soccer coach would do the same thing the coach did

I think anyone who's not an a$$hole would've done the same thing!!!!

That ref should be ashamed of himself!!!!

-- Edited by Motown Junkie at 16:28, 2007-02-26

El Duro · Foro Master

I as a soccer coach would do the same thing the coach did

El Duro · Foro Master

11-Yr.-Old Girl Kicked Out Of Soccer Game Because Of Religious GarmentMonday February 26, 2007

It's the kind of little story that has so many big implications.

It happened on a soccer field in Laval, Quebec Sunday. And in these sensitive times, it's been reverberating across the country ever since.

It started when an 11-year-old Ottawa girl named Ashahan Mansour was asked to leave the field during a girls' under-12 soccer match because she was wearing a hijab.

The garment is a traditional form of Muslim dress and covers the entire body.

A referee explained the clothing was simply too long and would present a physical hazard to other players. But Mansour's team vehemently disagreed and walked off the pitch, forfeiting all their games in protest.

And least four other teams followed suit.

Mansour remains stunned by the actions and feels she was the victim of blatant discrimination.

"It was my shift to go on the field, and as soon as I took one step on the field, the referee looked at me and said, 'get off. What are you doing here? Get off,'" she recalls. She claims he offered no explanation, despite her repeated queries.

"I could tell when he was pointing at me, that it was like part of my hijab ...

"As soon as he, like, told me to get off, my coach, Louis, came in and started talking to him in French, but I don't understand what he was saying.

"And then a person told me that the referee's going to pull a red card at Louis, so then my coach, Louis, said, 'okay, we're gone.' We forfeit. And then the whole team stepped off the field."

Mansour remains baffled about the ref's reasons, noting her garment is like a shirt that tucks in and doesn't get in the way of anything.

Her mother remains proud of her daughter's defence of her religious freedom and is sure discrimination was the real sport in play.

"I truly believe that, yes, because she was allowed to play on Saturday two games, and she was registered in front of the convenors and everyone involved with the tournament stamped her, allowed her to play," recalls Maria Mansour. "So why wait 'til Sunday to have her humiliated in front of hundreds of people?"

The Canadian Soccer Association refused to comment on the specific case, with a spokesman noting only that it's up to each official to decide on how to interpret rules about the wearing of religious headgear prior to a game.