Friday 26 September 2014 12:32, UK
Authorities have been criticised for excluding people of faith following the withdrawal of Qatar's women from the basketball event at the Asian Games after being refused permission to play wearing the hijab.
Qatar had to forfeit matches against Mongolia and Nepal after Games organisers declared five of their 11 players would breach International Basketball Federation (FIBA) if they played in Islamic headscarves.
Muslim Women's Sports Foundation chair Rimla Akhtar believes the current rules, which ban headwear and hair accessories from the court, are discriminating against people of faith.
“We need to be inclusive because sport is a major part of people’s lives and a lot of people of faith are involved in the sports world in some way or the other.” Akhtar told Sky Sports.
“But these types of rules are clearly blocking out a huge part of the world’s population and it doesn’t send out a great message.
“It definitely sends out a message that people of faith are not particularly welcome on a basketball court if they choose to practise their faith and observe their faith in a free way.
“That’s not a positive message to be sending out because sport can be used as such a great tool to bring communities together.”
The 2013 Sportswomen of the Year Community Award winner has questioned FIBA’s stance on the issue which she says has changed direction in recent years.
“This situation is a real shame but the fact that they (Qatar) have turned up goes to show how much passion they wanted to play.
“They’ve gone all the way there and they’ve not been allowed to play because of a rule that essentially does not make any sense.
“If you look at the history of the ruling - I think it was back in 2009 not too long after the FIFA ban came in place - that FIBA decided to put a similar ban on being religiously neutral on a court.
“To be honest that’s not a decision for FIBA to be making. FIBA shouldn’t be preventing people of particular faiths from playing basketball - it’s not something they should be influencing in that way.
“Around the same time both FIBA and FIFA changed tack and said it’s more of a safety thing but the true message of this ban is there for everyone to see.
“We can only hope that now FIBA will overturn the rule fully and sooner rather than later.”
Earlier this month, FIBA announced they would hold a two-year testing phase enabling players to wear the hijab at national level and have since said the Asian Games is excluded from that because it is an international event.
Akhtar added: “It doesn’t just affect Muslim women it affects Sikh guys that wear a turban and potentially Jewish men. It affects people of various faiths across different countries.
“It’s just unnecessary and it’s unfortunate that some people are not allowed to play basketball without compromising their beliefs.”
FIBA has responded to criticism of the ban by strongly denying there was any "religious connotation" in the longstanding ban.
A statement read: "FIBA's regulations apply on a global scale and without any religious connotation.
"While certain groups have interpreted the provisions of the official basketball rules as a ban against the participation of players of certain faiths in basketball competitions, the uniform regulations are of a purely sporting nature.
"These regulations were enacted 20 years ago without any other sort of considerations than sports-related ones and without any major complaints until very recently."
