Saudi women to be allowed into sport stadiums

Women in Saudi Arabia will reportedly be allowed to attend sporting events in stadiums next year, according to reports.

They will be allowed into stadiums in the major cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, the BBC reports.

The news come as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman continues to chart a more modern course for the conservative country, which for decades had banned concerts and film screenings and arrested women who attempted to drive.

Since catapulting to power with the support of his father, the king, the prince has pushed forth changes that could usher in a new era for one of the United States' most important allies and swing the kingdom away from decades of ultraconservative dogma and restrictions.

Hundreds of Saudi Arabian women have for the first time in history attended a sports stadium to mark their country's national day.

He's introduced musical concerts and movies again and is seen as the force behind the king's decision to grant women the right to drive as of next year.

Opposition to the changes has so far been muted, but some of the prince's critics have been detained.

The prince's agenda is upending the ruling Al Saud's longstanding alliance with the kingdom's clerical establishment in favour of synchronising with a more cosmopolitan, global capitalism that appeals to international investors and maybe even non-Muslim tourists.

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The prince grabbed headlines in recent days by vowing a return to "moderate Islam".

He also suggested that his father's generation had steered the country down a problematic path and that it was time to "get rid of it."

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

In his sweeping "Vision 2030" plan to wean Saudi Arabia of its near total dependence on petrodollars, Prince Mohammed laid out a vision for "a tolerant country with Islam as its constitution and moderation as its method".

Prince Mohammed, or MBS as he is widely known, used a rare public appearance on stage at a major investor conference in the capital, Riyadh, this week to drive home that message to a global audience.

"We only want to go back to what we were: Moderate Islam that is open to the world, open to all religions," he said.

"We will not waste 30 years of our lives in dealing with extremist ideas. We will destroy them today."

His remarks were met with applause and a front-page article in Britain's The Guardiannewspaper.

In expanded remarks to the paper, the 32-year-old prince said that successive Saudi monarchs "didn't know how to deal with" Iran's 1979 revolution that brought to power a clerical Shiite leadership still in place today.

That same year, Saudi rulers weathered a stunning blow: Sunni extremists laid siege to Islam's holiest site in Mecca for 15 days.

Women will be allowed in three Saudi Arabian sports stadiums from next year.

The attack was carried out by militants opposed to social openings taking place at the time, seeing them as Western and un-Islamic.

Indeed, Sunni extremists have used the intolerant views propagated by the ideology known as Wahhabism to justify violence against others. Wahhabism has governed life in Saudi Arabia since its foundation 85 years ago.

The ruling Al Saud responded to the events of 1979 by empowering the state's ultraconservatives. To hedge the international appeal of Iran's Shiite revolution, the government backed efforts to export the kingdom's foundational Wahhabi ideology abroad.

To appease a sizeable conservative segment of the population at home, cinemas were shuttered, women were banned from appearing on state television and the religious police were emboldened.

Much is now changing under the prince as he consolidates greater powers and prepares to inherit the throne.

There are plans to build a Six Flags theme park and a semi-autonomous Red Sea tourist destination where the strict rules on women's dress will likely not apply.

Females have greater access to sports, the powers of the once-feared religious police have been curtailed and restrictions on gender segregation are being eased.

Unlike previous Saudi monarchs, such as King Abdullah who backed gradual and cautious openings, Prince Mohammed is moving quickly.

More than half of Saudi Arabia's 20 million citizens are below the age of 25, meaning millions of young Saudis will be entering the workforce in the coming decade.

The government is urgently trying to create more jobs and ward off the kinds of grievances that sparked uprisings in other Arab countries where unemployment is rampant and citizens have little say in government.

The prince has to find solutions now for the problems he is set to inherit as monarch.

"What MBS is doing is a must requirement for any kind of economic reform. Economic reform requires a new Protestant ethic if you will, a new brand of Islam," said Maamoun Fandy, director of the London Global Strategy Institute.

This new Saudi version of "moderate Islam" can be understood as one that is amenable to economic reforms; it does not close shops at prayer time or banish women from public life, Fandy said.

In other words, Saudi Arabia's economic reforms require social reforms to succeed.

Buzzwords like "reform," ''transparency" and "accountability" — all used by the prince in his promotion of Vision 2030 — do not, however, mean that Saudi Arabia is moving toward greater liberalism, democracy, pluralism or freedom of speech.

The government does not grant licenses to non-Muslim houses of worship, and limits those of its Shiite Muslim citizens.

The prince has also made no mention of human rights concerns. If anything, dozens of the prince's perceived critics have been detained in a warning to others who dare to speak out.

Some of those arrested were seen as critics of his foreign policies, which include severing ties with Qatar, increasing tensions with Iran and overseeing airstrikes in Yemen that have killed scores of civilians and drawn sharp condemnation from rights groups and some in Washington.

Meanwhile, Prince Mohammed faces a Saudi public that remains religiously conservative. That means he still needs public support from the state's top clerics in order to position his reforms as Islamic and religiously permissible.

These clerics, many of whom had spoken out in the past against women working and driving, appear unwilling or unable to publicly criticize the moves.

In this absolute monarchy, the king holds final say on most matters and the public has shown it is welcoming the changes.

With Associated Press.
Source: http://www.9news.com.au/world/2017/10/30/11/21/saudi-women-to-be-allowed-into-sport-stadiums 

Muslim ‘girls only’ swimming sessions ripple Danish waters

Hundreds of young Muslim girls have flocked to swimming lessons in Copenhagen's immigrant-heavy Tingbjerg district after Hovedstadens Svømmeklub (Capital City Swimming Club) introduced segregated swimming sessions.

While the swimming club has hailed the move as a "recipe for integration", politicians and commentators have criticised the concept as being against Danish values.

The girl-only sessions, which also take place with windows and doors to the swimming hall blacked out, were set up in response to religious and cultural requirements put forward by parents, reports Berlingske.

The newspaper reports that 246 girls of non-Danish ethnic origin between the ages of five and 12 have begun attending swimming lessons at the hall since the sessions were introduced.

“We have gone from zero to several hundred girls in three years, and have successfully established a swimming option for a specific group, which would otherwise find swimming difficult to access because of religion,” Lars Sørensen, the director of Hovedstadens Svømmeklub (HSK), told Berlingske.

A 2011 report by the Danish Sports Association (Dansk Idrætsforbund) showed that 28 percent of ethnic Danes were members of sports clubs, compared to 18 percent of non-ethnic Danes.

Sørensen told Berlingske that encouraging young Muslim girls to take part in sport - while keeping with their own religious practices - strengthens both physical wellbeing and integration amongst the girls.

“Many of these girls come here and meet role models from their own neighbourhoods standing on the poolside in the coach’s jersey,” said Sørensen. “At the same time, they learn to swim, which gives safety, fitness and well being.”

Sørensen added that the club did not consider the introduction of segregated lessons an extraordinary measure.

“It is just a condition [for taking part], just as some people swimming in 50 metre lanes and others swimming in 25 metre lanes,” the pool trainer told Berlingske.

“We are the second biggest sporting association in the country, so we think it’s our responsibility to offer a considered range of swimming lessons,” he added.

But the City of Copenhagen's deputy mayor for culture and leisure, Carl Christian Ebbesen of the Danish People’s Party (DF), told Berlingske that creating segregated swimming sessions for Muslim girls was bad for integration and “destructive” for Danish culture.

“It is completely crazy to meet these demands. There is a desperately short supply of swimming pools, so we shouldn’t be closing them down by putting curtains in front of the windows and signs saying ‘just for girls’ just to meet the demands of religious fanatics,” Ebbesen said.

The DF politician said that Muslim girls were welcome to take part in sports clubs, but that this must be done on the same basis as everybody else.

“We must go to the parents via our integration policies and explain to them that we cannot meet their special requirements,” Ebbesen told Berlingske.

“They must send their girls to sport and other activities like everyone else. Every time we meet these demands, we are destroying the society we’ve worked so hard for,” he continued.

Rikke Lauritzen of the left-wing Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten), who is responsible for municipality financial support for community projects in Copenhagen, said that Ebbesen should “relax a little bit” and called the swimming initiative “super cool”.

“The most important thing for me is to get children from all backgrounds involved in clubs and associations of all kinds, so that they can be part of the democratic development process that this entails,” Lauritzen told Berlingske.

“It’s super cool, that so many children have begun swimming in Tingbjerg, because it shows that it works when we provide funds for development. I would therefore like to congratulate HSK on its success,” she continued.

Lauritzen also pointed out that single-sex swimming lessons are not an extraordinary sight.

Source: http://www.thelocal.dk/20160427/muslim-girls-only-swimming-sessions-ripple-danish-waters

Iranian female junior cycling team wins first Asian medal

The Iranian female junior cycling team has created history in their country for winning

Bronze in 2014 Asian Cycling Championship in Astana, Kazakhstan on Monday, making their

mark in Asian cycling

This win has also marked the first Asian Championships medal by Iranian female

cyclists.

With this medal, Iran has received 6 medals, including 2 silvers and 4 bronze ones in the

2014 Asian Cycling Championships.

Photo taken from Josiah Ng’s Instagram: Follow him at @josiahcyclist

(http://instagram.com/josiahcyclist)

Source: http://www.baikbike.com/iranian-female-junior-cycling-team-wins-first-asian-medal/

I'm a Footballer Who Happens to Wear Hijab -- I Didn't Need FIFA to Tell Me That

By: Shireen Ahmed

Here is my reality.

I have been contacted many, many times since March 1 when FIFA announced that IFAB formally overturned their decision to ban headcoverings on the pitch. 

Family, friends and colleagues have sent me congratulatory notes and news reports. 

Since July 2012, I have blogged, written and expressed happiness, hope, gratitude and sometimes frustration with this process.

One more step towards the pitch! 

I was elated. 

Women from all qualifying nations will attend the Women’s World Cup 2015 in Canada. My country. There will be women from Asia, Africa and from Europe. There will be women in hijab, in pants and in shorts.

As it should be. I was thrilled initially.  

Now, I am exhausted.

I am drained from the process. I lost time away from the sport I have know and identified with since I was a very young child.

It was a part of my identity. It was a part of my routine. It was a part of my life.

I found other ways to be involved, be motivated, and get fulfillment.  

I have written and opined about FIFA’s stance. I have shared pictures of radiating women who love the game and who defy cultural norms to enjoy it. Those connected and inspired by it.

And those who risk their lives to play it.

What I did not say was how I suffered from sheer resentment and difficulty when I was not allowed to compete. 

I am allowing myself to say it now. 

I longed for the the thrill of the sprint, and the rush of the challenge.

And the goal. The beautiful goal.

I even craved the hit of the post or the uncontrolled shot that went wide. 

I missed it desperately.

But I chose to cover for personal reasons and told myself my connection to my Creator was stronger than my connection to football.

What I didn’t recognize was those two connections were not mutually exclusive. 

I understand the anger and frustration of women who were told “NO”.Who were told “NO” by an organization that is supposed to create opportunity and advocate for the Beautiful Game.

I started wearing hijab in 1997. I played my last season in the fall. I was told I had to either “take it off on the pitch” or “wait until I was ready to commit fully to the rules of the game”.

There was no specific law against (that would come in 2007) it but nothing allowing it either.

I walked away from the pitch.

My heart broke. But I quickly wiped my angry tears with my hijab. It provided me tight comfort and strength against this sporting injustice.

I played pick-up. I played at picnics. At family gatherings. I played at any opportunity. I played against my husband. I played with my children.

But I was used to playing in leagues, in matches with referees and full of politics and drama. 

I remember watching one of my heroes, Zinedine Zidane hoist the World Cup over his head in glory in 1998.

It was the first summer I did not play.

His victory as a Frenchman of Muslim-Algerian descent was bittersweet for me. He was of my faith. But he was playing.

I practice his roulette anyway. Just in case I might need it someday.

Life went on. I cheered, I watched and I fooled around with a ball. I did not play regularly. 

After what seemed like several lifetimes, I found a league that would accept me. 

I went back hesitant and I went back happily.

I tasted the joy in the sweat rolling down my face.

I loved it. I stayed for years and then I found the courage to venture out and challenge this.

I found a club that agreed.

And I remember what I always knew: I was a footballer who wore hijab.

Not a hijab-wearing woman who played football.

Fast forward to 2014 when Jerome Valcke announced: "It was decided that female players can cover their heads to play". 

Muslim women *could* always play.

Now they are *permitted*.

Semantics.

How can I laud FIFA for striking down a law that should have never been implemented in the first place?

How can I be grateful for someone allowing me to do what I should ahve always been allowed do?

Why was I made to choose?

How can you choose between your heart and soul?

Thank God my daughter won’t have to face that choice.

Someone pointed this out to me: “funny how the west tells us that hijab is oppressive yet they use it to oppress hijabis by banning them from playing sports”.

That isn’t funny. It is horrible. 

Last year, I was sidelined from football due to what turned out to be a full blowout of my ACL . Being ripped away from the game in this manner was painful. But it was of my volition. I was injured in a match, while in play. My choice.

Being ripped from the game because a lot of white, privileged men decided it was dangerous for me and the sport was torturous. Their choice.

And it was unfair.

So, today I am not “happy”. I am disappointed that I lost time and energy.

My joy is tapered with simple relief. 

In future, I will not let it ruin other childhoods and affect and exclude people.

Football is for all of us.

It should always have been.

Source: http://footybedsheets.tumblr.com/post/78519986470/my-thoughts-hijab-on-the-pitch

This MMA Fighter Is Asian, Female and Muslim

BY: DAVID STOUT

In the first round of her professional mixed-martial-arts (MMA) debut, Malaysia’s Ann Osman took close to 30 knees to the midsection from her opponent, Singapore’s Sherilyn Lim.

“You’ve broken her!” Lim’s trainer could be heard shouting, as Lim leaned against the cage of the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

In the second and third rounds, Osman took more devastating knee and head strikes, but responded with knees of her own along with takedowns and crushing ground and pound. Both fighters were unloading whopping lefts and straight rights as the final bell rang. But after 15 minutes of brawling, Lim’s hand was raised in a split-decision victory.

ONE Fighting Championship’s Total Domination event, held in October, was a disappointment for Osman, but “I definitely gave my best during the fight,” the Malaysian tells TIME.

And despite her defeat, the bout captured the public’s imagination. On March 14, following immense pressure from both fans and media, ONE FC, the largest MMA promotion in Asia, will host a rematch between Lim and Osman — only this time in Osman’s home country.

The fight, which will be broadcast in 28 different countries, will contain several firsts. This will be Osman’s first fight in front of her fellow Malaysians, and it will be the first time a female Muslim fighter has competed on the global stage in a country where the official religion is Islam.

“There’s an empowering element to women in Asia to see a strong, confident, fit female competing on a world scale, on a world stage, especially if you’re Muslim or if you’re from a Muslim country like Malaysia,” says ONE FC CEO Victor Cui.

Not many sports give women similar prestige as their male counterparts, but the growing prominence of female UFC stars such as Ronda Rousey, Liz Carmouche and Miesha Tate has almost given MMA that distinction. And with the meteoric rise of MMA in Asia, ever more women are taking up the sport, and breaking fresh ground as they do.

“Having a female fight in a Muslim country like Malaysia is going to be a first,” says Cui. “There’s a huge cultural implication.”

Malaysia may not be Saudi Arabia or Iran, but religious conservatism is increasingly prevalent there. In October, the country’s courts ruled that only Muslims have the legal right to use the word Allah, sparking fierce protests from the nation’s Christian minority, who have longed used the same word for God.

Nevertheless, Osman, 27, says she has never felt ostracized because of her gender or decision to push boundaries. “I’m fortunate to not have felt any of that pressure about me being Muslim and a female MMA fighter at the same time,” says the Sabah native. “I’m very fortunate to have the support from everyone I know.”

According to Malaysian MMA pioneer Melvin Yeoh, Osman’s acceptance comes from both ONE FC’s assertive marketing in tandem with MMA’s official recognition by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, one of three sports to have the state’s blessing.

Ann Osman of Malaysia poses on the scale during the official weigh-in for her bout against Sherilyn Lim of Singapore ahead of the One Fighting Championship bout in Singapore on Oct. 17, 2013

“She’s a Muslim and people saw what she can do and then they thought, this we can also do,” says Yeoh.

While only 10 or so women trained at Yeoh’s fighting camp in Johor Bahru throughout 2013, in the wake of Osman’s October bout and the hype surrounding the upcoming rematch, interest in MMA from female athletes has snowballed. In January alone, he saw more than 20 women sign up.

According to Cui, it’s emphasizing narratives like Osman’s and playing off historical geopolitical rivalries like the one that exists between Singapore and Malaysia that is essential to MMA sinking deep roots into emerging Asian markets. “It’s Malaysia vs. Singapore, and those guys have a very, very extremely heated competition,” he says.

When ONE FC started investing in Malaysia in earnest two years ago there were only a handful of MMA gyms. Fast-forward to 2014, and there are now more than 30 operating in the capital Kuala Lumpur. This only adds to the competition between the nations. Singapore currently has around 10 fighting gyms.

“Singapore says they have better fighters, Malaysia says they have better fighters, so it’s a never-ending debate,” explains Yeoh.

But it’s not just regional rivalry that is stoking anticipation, as these women can actually fight. MMA blog Bloody Elbow nominated the third round of their previous encounter for the site’s “Round of the Year” for 2013.

For Osman, though, there’s only one prize in her sights. “I am definitely taking home the win in front of my hometown crowd,” she says. “First-round knockout!”

Source:
TIME.com http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2014/03/04/muslim-female-mma-fighter-ann-osman/#ixzz2v2VIwl6J

BY: CHUCK CULPEPPER

AMMAN, Jordan -- Root for them. Do it. Add them to the teams you follow ardently, the teams you follow occasionally, the teams you follow randomly when you're aimless on the Internet.

They have untold guts, an unusual chance at real historic significance and the unlimited appeal of demonstrating that the human will to play a game might just trump bigger forces, such as culture. Circle the planet at this moment, and they might be just about the best thing going.

They're the women's soccer team of Jordan, and if they can reach the 2015 World Cup in Canada, the effect might be incalculable. They would become the first Arab or Middle Eastern team to reach a Women's World Cup, and imagine the impression on generations of girls seeking big dreams and good health.

Actually, you don't have to imagine much, because Jordan, just for one country, has established grassroots programs for teen-aged girls. Rema Ramounieh oversees them nowadays and calls their pupils "lucky." Ask her how these days compare to the last generation, and she says, "Actually, we didn't have a last generation."

They began only in 2005 when, Ramounieh said, "It was 35 players in the whole of Jordan. We were really so happy that we had a national team … At that time, nobody knew anything about women's football."

With Ramounieh as goalkeeper and captain, positions she would hold until retiring after this momentous June, the fledgling Jordan team up and won the West Asian Football Federation tournament and, she said, "saw that we had a future."

The future found a hilt in June in Amman when, for the first time, Jordan qualified for the Asian Cup, which in May, 2014, will funnel five teams toward Canada. They did so in Jordan, on Jordanian TV. They did so in an environment that shows a fresh generation, thinking freshly about these matters.

"That's for sure," Ramounieh said. "Yeah, I see that back in past generations, it's quite difficult, because people in the past used to think we're not allowed to play football, and football is not for women. Now we find 25-year-old Jordanian men come and watch. They really respect us, and we see now our friends, our family, everybody coming to watch us."

It's embryonic -- about 2,500 fans saw them beat Uzbekistan to qualify -- but it's compelling in its nascence. Meet Arab women who play football, and you'll meet people uncommonly alive. You might end up thinking nobody loves a game any more. As pioneers, they're alongside women I met during a two-year stint in the United Arab Emirates, such as the Kuwaiti triathlete who trained in a jellyfish-ridden lagoon at a construction site, because she could not get access to a pool; Omani women who reported dramatic health improvements from taekwondo; and an Iraqi woman who trained for an endurance event by ignoring the stares along the roads of Mosul. All make a serious bucking of their cultures with, in most cases, the serious backing of their fathers, another fresh cultural wrinkle.

The start of something: Jordan's team captain Miseda Naseem receives the cup after her team beat Egypt in the women's Arabia Cup in October, 2010. (Getty Images)

If you happen through Amman right about now, the sports focus is on Jordan's men's national team, as it readies for a home-and-home early this month against Uzbekistan, the winner playing a South American club for a World Cup slot. In that, Jordan will join eyeballs all over the world in the rough, rowdy whittling to a final 32 for Brazil. Yet a visible undercurrent here involves the women, who got good newspaper and TV publicity as they made off to Laos, to train for a tournament in Myanmar.

Said the Asian Football Confederation President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, "The rapid development of the women's game in Asia has been shown in the success of teams like Japan, DPR Korea and China on the world stage, but what we have seen from the four qualifying groups for the women's Asian Cup this year is how teams from West Asia are starting to show significant improvement."

Palestine, Bahrain, Kuwait and Lebanon also have qualified among the 16 teams for Vietnam, but Jordan holds the highest seeding, at No. 5.

It also holds the highest expectations, on vivid display one night two years ago in Abu Dhabi. There, Jordan lost a regional tournament semifinal to Iran by 3-2, and the press-conference room happened to share a wall with their dressing room, making audible their extraordinary -- and commendable -- wailing.

How they did care.

As the aching sounds drifted almost uncomfortably into the next room, their Dutch then-coach Hesterine de Reus said, "They are used to being the best team, so they are used to winning."

As she told the FIFA website when she left for Australia, "It is a young and skillful side and a promising team," adding, "There is great support from the federation."

"We really did some hard work," Ramounieh said, "and really wanted to do something about women's football in Jordan. We believe in it very much ... We still need more, but it's getting better." As in: "When you're walking down the street, people are talking to you about it and saying, 'We're very proud that you qualified for the final.'"

It's all because of something so simple, something mandatory when you're considering that some players double as students. As de Reus said, "The girls really love the sport, which is a powerful thing in itself."

Yeah, root for that.

source: http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/59373136?tcid=tw_share

Libya's women's football team banned from major tournament

By Chris Stephen

Rights groups say the problems facing Libya’s women footballers are part of a larger struggle over women's rights. Photograph: Philippe Desmazes/AFP/Getty Images

Libya's international woman's football team, already under threat from religious extremists, has been banned from taking part in a major tournament next week by the country's sporting authorities.

In a move likely to raise questions about its commitment to equal rights, Libya's football association told the team it cannot fly to Germany on Saturday, citing concerns that it takes place within the holy month of Ramadan.

"The federation said you cannot play in Germany because of the need for fasting," said midfielder Hadhoum el-Alabed. "We want to go but they say you cannot go."

Libya had been due to play teams from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia and Germany in Discover Football, a tournament funded by the German government. It is billed as the biggest gathering of Middle-Eastern women's footballers since the 2011 Arab spring.

El-Alabed, at 37 the oldest player in the squad and who played in Liverpool while earning a Phd in sports science, said the ban had shattered hopes that the fall of Gaddafi would bring social change. "Other teams can play [in Berlin], so why not us? If you could see the girls, when they were told, they were all crying."

After initially giving permission for the tournament, Libya's FA changed its mind. "It is Ramadan," said the FA general secretary, Nasser Ahmed. "We are not against women playing football."

It is understood German diplomats are working behind the scenes to provide guarantees that the 18-strong squad would be secure in Berlin.

Threats from Islamist radicals have already forced the team to train in secret, constantly switching venues and deploying armed guards.

In June Ansar al-Sharia, the militia linked by some with the killing of the US ambassador, Chris Stevens, in Benghazi last September, issued a statement saying it "severely condemned" women's football

"This is something we cannot have because it does not confirm with sharia law," it said. "It invites women to show off and wear clothes that are inappropriate."

Salim Jabar, one of Libya's most popular television preachers, has demanded the women's team disband, saying it was against the strictures of Islam.

"This team consists of tall, good-looking young girls, and that's the last thing this country needs," he said in a sermon broadcast from his Benghazi mosque. "For the first day that she [a Libyan woman] signed up for this team, she has sold herself and brought shame on her family."

Women's football was allowed during the Gaddafi regime, but only in reduced format with teams playing in gyms to be out of the public eye in this conservative Muslim country. Since the revolution the international team has been allowed to play 11-a-side, but its higher profile has made it a lightning rod for extremists.

"They [radicals] say to us you are no good, they intimidate us," says team captain Fadwa el-Bahi, 25.

At one training session, the location of which the Guardian was asked to keep secret, the team coach, Emmad el-Fadeih, said the women had already met strict FA guidelines. All play in head-to-foot blue tracksuits rather than shorts and T-shirts, and most wore the hijab.

El-Fadeih said the team had complied with FA rules that only unmarried women could travel to Germany, and then only if their father or guardian gave written permission.

"There are groups like Ansar al-Sharia don't want them, some people say football is not suitable for women," said el-Fadeih.

Fears of a backlash also saw team members refuse to be photographed for the tournament website. "They don't want their faces displayed," said Naziha Arebi, a British-Libyan filmmaker. "These women just want to play football."

El-Bahi, a geophysics graduate, insists nothing in the Qur'an bans women from sport. "The prophet (Muhammad and his wife used to run together and compete with each other."

She said the authorities should be highlighting the role women's football plays in fostering togetherness in a country wracked with militia violence. "This team is an example of reconciliation," she said. "We have former Gaddafi girls and former rebels, side-by-side."

Rights groups say the problems facing Libya's women footballers are part of a larger struggle by women who have struggled to win their rights. This month Libya's congress, dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood's Justice and Construction party, gave just six seats to women in a 60-strong commission formed to write a new constitution.

Tournament organisers say Libya's place will remain open. "We have heard that the football association decided that they are not allowed to go," said Discover Football spokeswoman Johanna Kosters "We will wait and see if they get on the plane."

source: http://m.guardiannews.com/world/2013/jul/19/libya-womens-football-team-banned-ramadan

Maldives Women’s Team Forfeit Basketball Tournament Over Headscarf Ban

BY: MINIVAN NEWS

The Maldives’ women’s basketball team refused to play without their headscarves, forfeiting the International Basketball Federation’s (FIBA) first under 18 three-on-three tournament held in Bangkok, Thailand earlier this week.

“The girls were really upset, we are as well. We came prepared based on the uniform the team wore in the last two games,” Maldives Basketball Association (MBA) President Ahmed Hafiz told Minivan News today (May 27).

“According to FIBA, the head cannot be covered during play. We have to go with FIBA rules if we want to play,” Hafiz stated.

The Maldives’ women’s basketball team has been allowed to participate in past tournaments while wearing burugaathah (headscarves), however the decision to make an exception to the rules “depends on the officials”, according to Hafiz.

“Qatar held a tournament two weeks back and there were some complaints that the Qatar team was wearing headgear, so FIBA was forced to apply the rules,” Hafiz explained. “Maybe that is the reason this issue came up for the Maldives [in this tournament].”

FIBA Asia has designed a jersey for Muslim players, but still needs to obtain FIBA international approval, according to the MBA.

“FIBA Asia is working on this because lots of Muslim countries are involved. Now the are suggesting to FIBA International to change the rules to allow headgear,” said Hafiz.

The Maldives’ under 18 women’s team is planning to participate in the upcoming Asian Youth Games, to be held this August in Nanjing, China, according to Hafiz.

“However, [the choice] is up to the players. We will not force them,” he said.

“This is a big problem for the game and will ruin the development of women’s basketball for a place like this, because there are still very few girl players and most wear the burugaa,” MBA Secretary General Arif Riza told Minivan News today.

“FIBA is pretty clear about the rules, so although the team has been allowed to play twice before, this was a mistake of ours also,” said Riza.

The primary issues of concern to MBA are that FIBA permitted the Maldives’ team to wear headscarves during tournaments in 2011 and 2012 as well as allowed other teams to play in violation of different dress code rules, such as wearing t-shirts instead of jerseys, according to Riza.

“Immediately after President Hafiz arrives [from Thailand] we will discuss the issue and write FIBA a letter,” said Riza.

“They should be allowed to have the right to play,” he declared.

FIBA Response

The headgear ban is “a part of FIBA Rules, but not a policy,” FIBA AsiaSecretary General Hagop Khajirian told Minivan News Thursday (May 23).

“It has nothing to do with headscarves as such, but more to do with the regulations which stipulate that the playing gears of players has to be such that it may not cause any harm or hindrance to themselves or opponent players,” explained Khajirian.

Although these rules have “been the case always”, FIBA is currently reviewing the headscarf restriction.

“There have been requests from many nations regarding this. And the FIBA Asia Central Board, in its meeting [held] on April 24 in Kuala Lumpur, resolved to send a study paper to FIBA to be taken up for further consideration,” said Khajirian.

The choice to cover

While Maldivian women’s participation in basketball is slowly increasing, netballis popular nationwide. Although there are key distinctions between the two sports – such as no dribbling in netball – the rules are very similar, according to a skilled Maldivian netball player of nine years and student coach of six years.

“Wearing the burugaa while playing netball is no problem for us, it is not difficult and we’ve never experienced any injuries [from the headscarves],” she explained on condition of anonimity.

“Every person has the choice of whether or not they choose to wear the burugaa. However, it is a religious thing, in Islam Muslims have to cover, it is the right thing,” she continued.

“Although some are not wearing [headscarves], that is their choice,” she added.

The netball enthusiast agreed with the Maldives’ women’s basketball team decision to not remove their headscarves and forefit their game in the recent FIBA three-on-three tournament.

“Their choice was the correct one, they do not want to break religous rules,” she said.

“FIBA should change their rules if they want Maldivians to participate, because so many [women] are wearing burugaathah. They have to change so everyone can compete,” she added.

Burugaa bans

A senor researcher from the internatonal NGO, Human Rights Watch, previously highlighted the discriminatory issue of banning women from wearing headscarves, in a 2012 article “Banning Muslim Veil Denies Women a Choice, Too”.

“The sad irony is that whether they are being forced to cover up or to uncover, these women are being discriminated against. Banned from wearing the hijab – a traditional Muslim headscarf – or forced to veil themselves, women around the world are being stripped of their basic rights to personal autonomy; to freedom of expression; and to freedom of religion, thought and conscience,” wrote Judith Sunderland.

“Denying women the right to cover themselves is as wrong as forcing them to do so. Muslim women, like all women, should have the right to dress as they choose and to make decisions about their lives and how to express their faith, identity and moral values. And they should not be forced to choose between their beliefs and their chosen profession,” notes the article.

Muslim women’s basketball players in Switzerland and Baharain have also faced controversial opposition to their refual to remove their headscarves.

The Baharaini team was “lauded” for their refusal to remove their headscarves during an international competition in 2009, according to Gulf News.

Meanwhile, Sura Al-Shawk, a 19 year-old STV Luzern basketball player, was denied permission to play while wearing a headscarf by the Swiss basketball association ProBasket in 2010, reported the Associated Press.

ProBasket told the Associated Press it followed FIBA rules and that wearing the headscarf while playing basketball “could increase the risk of injury and the sport has to be religiously neutral”.

In July 2012, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)overturned a headscarf ban, which was put into place in 2007, after a yearlong campaign led by FIFA vice president Prince Ali of Jordan, reported the Associated Press.

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