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Ali Jarekji / Reuters
Players of the Iranian women's national soccer team react after withdrawing from their qualifying match against Jordan for the 2012 London Olympic Games in Amman June 3. The Iranian team were banned from the match on Friday in the second round of qualifiers in protest against guidelines on their veil. The FIFA woman's association requires that any covering used does not cover the neck and ears. In Iran all women are required to cover their hair in public to conform to the Islamic dress code.
Ali Jarekji / Reuters
An assistant helps a player of the Iranian women's national soccer team adjust her veil before their qualifying match against Jordan for the 2012 London Olympic Games in Amman June 3. The Iranian team were banned from the match on Friday in the second round of qualifiers in protest against guidelines on their veil. The FIFA woman's association requires that any covering used does not cover the neck and ears. In Iran all women are required to cover their hair in public to conform to the Islamic dress code.
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Islam consider women as second class citizens. They cannot drive and even in hot weather of dessert, they are required to wear clothes, covering all the parts of the body whereas men can wear what ever they want.
Oh my goodness, my friend was telling me about this. I wonder how this will effect them in the future.
Kim
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I think it is terrible people can't live their religion the way they believe. If they can play well why does anyone care what their clothes are like.
I don't think wearing the hijab effects the way they play soccer... nonetheless, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.
Dear Raju.
Yes, Muslim men can wear what ever they want, as long as they cover their boy from knee to their belly button.
peace be upon you
I grew up in Lebanon in muslim family. I never saw these muslim garbs at all, except rarely when we went to parts of south or north Lebanon in towns where population stuck to the old ways. we always went to the beach and wore bikinis, and men wore the european style swim pants. every body mingled around, all religions interacted well. until khomeini came to power in Iran, and the syrian army controlled Lebanon during the civil war, that we began to see more and more men and women wearing the islamic garbs. around that time my family decided to emigrate. we did not like the increasing influence of these extremists. my father always found it closed minded and loved us"girls" too much to force upon us this silly way of dressing up. now I live in the U.S. and I still find around these women covered up from head to toe even in the hot weather of Arizona. what is more ironic, I belonged to a YMCA(christian institute) pool, and 2 muslim families used to come over, the men wore regular swim trunks, but their women and daughters got into the pool fully covered. one of the husbands was a university professor...
I am one of these women who are covered and I love it and am proud of it. To pressure people to cover or to uncover is the same thing to judge someone covered or uncovered is the making a judgement about someone freedom of choice either way. not everyone feels comfortable having to wear a bikini to the beach and a lot of women would rather not feel like they have to show there bodies for all to see and it's there choice and you should respect there choice and not judge them just like you wouldn't want to be judged. Covering frees me from a lot of pressures on women to be perfect it gives me a peace and freedom I cannot describe please repect my decision that fits me perfectly and makes me happy without judging me and throwing me into a lump of stereotypes.
Thank you for providing your point of view. I had always wondered what women like you felt, aside from everyone else's opinion.
If it was their undeniable choice to wear the head scarf, then more power to them for having the pride to not take them off. But unfortunately, we know that they have no choice, just like you said. They can not take the head scarf off no matter what they do because...that is the law of Iran. I am printing this article so that one day I will hopefully be able to show it to my children and instead of them saying "that still happens," I hope it will be, "Wow, that really happened?" Stay proud, Eman.
I am an IRANIAN
@!$%# Islam and @!$%# all religions too
hummm - statements like that arent really called for in this context you know. but, luckily, in USA, we are free to make comments like that. anyway, the rules state specific uniforms, and until it is revised, it is what it is.
I think the issue is a safety point, not 'we don't want your extremist religion here'. The issue is that what if some other player on a (let's face it) far better team accidentally gets a finger or some other body part caught in all that excess...at the speed and intensity of international competition, that could create some serious injuries...the same reason they don't allow earrings...i'm all for religious medals and such, but come on, its also a threat to run at high intensity for 90+ minutes in that much clothing...
It's funny, probably some of you who criticize these poor ladies are Christian (I say some because there are many who are good-hearted), and how disgraceful it would be, if you were alive during the time of Christ (pbuh). I'm sure you would criticize his Holy Mother and taunt her about wearing all that clothing rather than recognizing it as a sign of Modesty. At the same time, you preach about how you love Jesus Christ (pbuh). And you think he would love you back when you disrespect this very quality that his mother had. What a confused belief you have. I guess we'll just have to wait when he comes back to separate the real lovers of Jesus Christ (pbuh) from the fake ones.
I've played soccer for years and though it may not have been professionally, I can vouch for the fact that wearing such garments on their heads would in no way affect their playing or the players they're playing against. In regards to "Soccermom81", you're full of @!$%#. The fact that you said "let's face it, far better teams" shows your prejudice and bias and exposes your inability to view this objectively. If your child doesn't know how to play soccer and for some reason has any body part in a position to be caught up in CLOTH attached to another person, that's YOUR problem. What are you going to say next, players should play in the nude, so as to avoid anyone's arms getting stuck in another's shorts or jersey? Get real, grow up, stop further oppressing the oppressed.
You are right, it is a safety issue. It can be. The saddest thing in all of this is the shackles that are put on them from the Islamic Republic of Iran. If it were their own personal choice and religion that kept them from taking off the scarf, more power to them. But the fact of the matter is, they do not even have the choice either way. Their government says they are a disgrace if they take off the head scarf. To be honest, even if they all took it off in protest, they probably would have been sent back home, and definitely put in jail, or worse.
The rules of the game in this case are more justifiable than the laws preventing them from taking of their head scarfs. My mother takes MRI's, and there are women who come in with long, beautiful gold necklaces that they can not take off for personal and religious purposes. The MRI can not be taken at this point. Is it of any offense to the woman? No, it is in fact a saftey hazard, and they are only looking out for her well being.
to iranian 3573636, iran is an islamic county that is why they set wearing the veil, also known as the hijab as a rule for the female citizens. The issue of the veil here is not really about their government. These ladies, I'm sure, are proud to be a muslim and proud to be donning the veil and they will not take it off even when forced as such by FIFA.
I'm a sportswomen myself and I do wear the veil and I am not from a muslim country. The veil is not an obstruction in anyway ESPECIALLY when worn as how the ladies in the Iran Football team wears it.
I still it still is not fair for FIFA to ban them after they wore a similar compression/tights material as their veil. It is not an obstruction in any way and it trust me, nobody's hands or body parts will get stuck as mentioned by another.
And regarding that MRI issue. there are of course exceptions to our islamic laws and we are able to take it off when it comes to the medical practices. You see, Islam is very flexible and FIFA is not. and by saying this, not only FIFA is not being fair.....other sporting organisations are not too. I'm sure there are many organisations who are still banning the veil for all sorts of reasons and sometimes they are rather petty.
This is SHAMEFUL on FIFA's part.
There is no competitive advantage, nor any safety hazard from wearing the hijab in a football match. It is either blatantly anti-Islamic (which doesn't make sense due to Qatar's purchasing of the 2022 World Cup), blatantly sexist, or stubbornly, willfully ignorant. Any of which is unacceptable.
Let the ladies play.
FIFA's explanation goes no further than to say that they are adhering to a rule. How's about they engage in a little critical thinking, examine the rule and why it's written the way it is, and consider that a change may be warranted if the hijabs have no adverse impact on the game?
No doubt, this rule was written when there was no possibility of muslim women being in a position to play competitive soccer on an international stage. Unless they can justify the rule being written as it is, this is a needless, sexist barrier to what many would consider welcome progress for women in muslim societies.
sorry to burst your hopes of sexism, but FIFA's rule was written specifically to ban neck-warmers, which were considered a choking hazard. of course, they also prohibit wearing religious articles during play too, yet they still offer women an official, approved hair covering, the Iranian government just refuses to comply with that. the blame rests solely on Iran, which seems to be using these poor women as pawns to make them look discriminated and boost their own shallow persecution complex.
Enough with the Isalamic shananogon, live and let live................. This is not about FIFA; it's time for the Islam to end this non sence. In Iran and there are lots of Underground parties and prostitution and even homosexuals. The Goverment simply chooses to only pin point the small things.
I've played soccer for years and though it may not have been professionally, I can vouch for the fact that wearing such garments on their heads would in no way affect their playing or the players they're playing against. In regards to "Soccermom81", you're full of @!$%#. The fact that you said "let's face it, far better teams" shows your prejudice and bias and exposes your inability to view this objectively. If your child doesn't know how to play soccer and for some reason has any body part in a position to be caught up in CLOTH attached to another person, that's YOUR problem. What are you going to say next, players should play in the nude, so as to avoid anyone's arms getting stuck in another's shorts or jersey? Get real, grow up, stop further oppressing the oppressed.
Ok…wait…the captions read:
The FIFA woman’s association requires that any covering used does not cover the neck and ears. In Iran all women are required to cover their hair in public to conform to the Islamic dress code.
So…why couldn’t they cover hair without covering their neck and/or ears? Not saying they should “have to”, but why not a compromise? Meet the demands of their faith and the FIFA association? Like could they have tucked the edges away from their necks? I don’t know the rules or the dress code, but I feel like I’m missing something here… Can anyone explain? I'm actually curious.
Hello, that's actually a really good observation. Good eye. Hijab (the dress code) requires that the ears and neck be covered as well. So in this case you can't eat the cake and have it too, I guess.
As a Muslim woman myself that wears the hijab, I'm very proud of these ladies for being so good at what they do. However, I'm disappointed in FIFA for being so backwards. I thought this was the 21st century!
Sure. I will try to do this without cussing like everyone else;)
Regardless of whether or not these women were ACTUALLY Muslim, they had to cover their hair, and neck. At a more practical sense, I guess it is really hard to wrap your hair away while exposing your ears? Furthermore, when they say "hair", it does not just mean hair. Showing your neck is just as much exposure in the Islamic Republic, we are not just dealing with "culture" anymore. At an Olympic level, I guess FIFA can not shy away on their rules. However, let me put it this way for you; even if these women were not Muslim, had they taken their scarves off it would have been in a disaster.
Let me put it this way even further; if they had been IN Iran, and had taken their scarves off to play, they would have easily been shot in the street (this is a large possibility, not a guarentee, depending on how many people are around, etc.) They would have been thrown in jail and threatened, absolutely no doubt about it. That's what these women are really dealing with. Thanks for the curiosity :)
@!$%# you, fifa.
i am so @!$%#ing tired of you using that goddamned excuse of “hijabs aren’t safe.” there are hijabs specifically designed to be worn during sports like soccer. not that’s it’s @!$%#ing necessary, of course. when was the last time you saw a soccer player grab an opponent around the goddamned neck?
may all you disgusting bigots burn in hell for depriving these women of the pride and joy they find in playing this game.
"burn in hell"? so why don't you blame the Iranian government for not complying with FIFAs rules? the fact that Iran's enforcing an oppressive dress code that probably isn't even the choice of the players is far worse than a soccer club's uniform requirements.
I can see how people think it is unfair to ban these women for wearing head scarves. But rules are created for ALL people to comply with, which is a fair way to operate. If the Olymics allowed them to wear the head scarves, hence bending or breaking the rules, then the next thing you know other countries are going to want to be allowed to break the rules too for the sake of religion or whatever people want to say to do what they want to do. It is not fair to allow one group of people to break the rules and then make everyone else abide by them. I'm sorry but sports have nothing to do with religion and rules should be followed by everyone- if one group gets an "exemption" from a rule then why can't other people do the same?
Firstly, for those who thinks that it's the Iranian govt who are not compliant to the rules, let's us ask the girls, Will they actually choose to take off their hijabs for the sake of their game. If I am one of the girls (btw, i'm not an Iranian)'I will choose to stick to my Hijab because I'm doing it for the love to my God and no one have the right to make me take it off. It's my freedom to choose!
Secondly, why don't FIFA just give these girls a try, IF IT DOES REALLY affect the safety of the game and the player, PROVE IT! I never take off my hijab when I play sports, just wear an appropriate one. Small, short and tight even when I swim never became a problem for me. It's not that these girls are wearing the massive hijabs with burqa! Then there's a reason for FIFA to ban them.
If wearing the hijab is not considered a safety issue then the young women should be allowed to play. Surely these women have played international teams prior to this - what was the ruling then? It's a shame the FIFA won't allow them to play.