Iran, the First Victim of Ban | ||
Iran, the First Victim of Ban In 2011, a Bahraini FIFA official banned the Iranian women’s national soccer team from playing against Jordan in the second round of the qualifiers for the 2012 London Olympic Games in the Jordanian capital city, Amman. Jordan was announced to have won 3-0 after the Iranian team refused to remove their hijab. Iran filed a complaint against the FIFA official, who banned the country’s women football team from playing in an Olympics qualifier match, over their hijab. “We have already held talks with the president of the International Federation of Association Football about the participation of Iranian women in matches with full Islamic hijab,” said head of the Iranian Football Federation (IFF) Ali Kaffashian after the Iranian team was prevented from participating in the match with Jordan. “Unfortunately, however, I do not know why the official in charge of the matches refused to let our team play,” ISNA quoted the IFF chief as saying. After the ban, Iran’s national Olympic committee called on FIFA, football’s world governing body, and the International Olympic Committee to review the ban on the hijab. “We have asked the heads of these international sports organizations to review and annul FIFA’s decision,” Bahram Afsharzadeh, the Iranian Olympic committee secretary general said. “Hijab is related to the Islamic culture and Muslim women can’t take part in social activities without it.” Jerome Valcke, the FIFA secretary general, rejected the Iranian Olympic panel’s request in a letter to the national football federation. The hijab issue was first examined in 2007 after an 11-yearold girl in Canada was prevented from earing one for safety reasons. Iran was scheduled to compete in a six-nation tournament for girls at the inaugural Youth Olympics against Turkey, Equatorial Guinea, Trinidad and Tobago, Chile and Papua New Guinea. Around 3,600 athletes aged 14-18 were to compete in 26 sports. Ali Kafashian, president of Iran’s Football Federation, said the Iranian women team would participate in the competitions only if they are allowed to observe the Islamic dress code. | ||
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