The International Football Association Board (IFAB) has reached a decision to lift the ban on wearing headscarves for Muslim women footballers for an interim period, whilst the design, colour and material permitted will be classified during the IFAB Annual Business Meeting in Glasgow in October.
The initial justification behind the ban is that the laws of football prohibit equipment that is dangerous or makes religious statements. Therefore, headscarves have been banned since 2007.
This delicate issue has drawn widespread criticism as the ban was seen to promote inequality in the world’s most popular game. In 2011, the Iranian football team was controversially disqualified in an Olympic qualifying match against Jordan for refusing to remove their headscarves before the kick-off.
The General Secretary of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Alex Soosay, was quoted to have said that this decision to lift the ban would be most welcomed by Muslim majority Malaysia, according to the International News.
However, it is understood that the French Football Federation (FFF) still outlaws the wearing of headscarves despite the lifting of the ban.
Falah Abdullah, GOAL.COM
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