BENGALURU: The under-16 Women’s Asia Championship 2017, that takes place in Bengaluru from October 22 to 28, will be the first event to comply with a new ruling by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) on headgear that enables female Muslim players to wear the hijab in international competition.
The new FIBA ruling was unanimously ratified by representatives from 139 National Federations at the first-ever Mid-Term Congress held in Hong Kong on 4 May this year. FIBA regulations thus far prohibited any headgear wider than five inches, which effectively excluded women wearing hijabs from participating, in accordance with rules that were set in place 20 years ago.
The technicalities of the new rule have been developed in a way that minimises the risks and preserves consistency in terms of the colour of the playing kit, says a report in insidethegames.biz. The tournament due to get underway in Bengaluru this month is the first official FIBA event that will be affected by this shift in position.
This is what the FIBA says in its official statement, “The provisions of the new rule mean that headgear is allowed when it is black or white, or of the same dominant colour as that of the uniform; it is one same colour for all players on the team (as all accessories); it does not cover any part of the face entirely or partially (eyes, nose, lips etc.); it is not dangerous to the player wearing it and/or to other players; it has no opening/closing elements around the face and/or neck; it has no parts extruding from its surface”.
The FIBA’s resolution comes a year after football’s global governing body FIFA allowed headgear during a match, with the Under-17 Women’s World Cup in Jordan last October becoming the first time Muslim players wore headscarves during a FIFA event, notes insidethegames.biz.
Picture courtesy: change.org
