Ontario's soccer association disagrees with Quebec's soccer association — and Quebec's premier — about banning head scarves from the game.
Unlike Quebec soccer referees who ejected an 11-year-old Ottawa girl from a Laval, Que., tournament on Sunday because she was wearing a hijab, or Muslim head scarf, Ontario soccer officials allow religious headgear, said Guy Bradbury, CEO of the Ontario Soccer Association.
"It has to be secured — safely tucked in and secured," he said. "We've evaluated this particular case … and we're comfortable with our position."
Quebec Liberal Leader Jean Charest spoke out in favour of the Quebec soccer headscarf ban Monday, a day after Asmahan Mansour, a player for the Nepean U12 Hotspurs, was kicked out of the Quebec tournament for wearing her head scarf.
"One of the practices of soccer is not only the sport itself on the field, but also the behaviour of the players, and how they are expected to behave towards each other, and the rules around how they are dressed," the premier said Monday while campaigning for the Quebec provincial election.
"My understanding is that the referee applied the rules of the soccer federation."
A Quebec soccer association spokesperson said the ban protects children from being strangled and pointed out that the referee is Muslim.
Charest's comments also came a little more than two weeks after he called for a one-year provincial commission to examine what constitutes reasonable accommodation of minorities, following the adoption of controversial codes of conduct targeted at immigrants by several Quebec communities.
The Quebec Soccer Federation's technical co-ordinator, Valmie Ouellet, said referees were following Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) law number four when they ousted Mansour.
"There's a rule about headgear, where you're not to wear anything on your head," she said, adding a scarf could get caught on another player and choke the scarf-wearer's neck.
Source : CBC News
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