Gooooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaal!!!

This is one of those stories that I love… Seems Louis Maneiro, the coach of the Nepean Hotspurs soccer (you know, World Cup game? – football for my European friends) team pulled his girls under-12 team from the ARS Laval Indoor National Tourney in protest… What was he protesting? During the third game of the tournament, as 11 year-old striker Asmahan Mansour stepped onto the field, she was told by one of the referees she would have to remove her hijab, the traditional muslim head scarf citing safety issues. Mr Maneiro saw it as discrimination against the player’s religious beliefs, argued with the officials of the tournament to no avail. He then felt compelled to pull his team, with the full support of his players and their parents’ and vowed never to return to the tournament again. A representative of the Quebec Soccer Federation stated that the rules of the international governing body of soccer, FIFA, prohibit wearing any jewelry and all headgear as a safety concern. She is quoted as saying: "If it (meaning the hijab) becomes untucked and the player is running on a breakaway, for example, and another player pulls on it, I would imagine it would be quite a jar to the neck and head of the player wearing the headgear." This rule is not enforced uniformly, the fact that Miss Mansour was allowed to play 2 games in the tourney prior to this call is an illustration of this. The same representative of the Quebec Soccer Federation stated that as all jewelry is also banned, if a Catholic player wanted to play wearing a crucifix, she would also be asked to remove it, or told to stay off the field and that claims of religious discrimination are unfounded. Any thoughts? Oh… by the way... there is no formal ruling in FIFA about headgear. Seems questions regarding the safety of the athlete are left up to the referee’s discretion. The FIFA rule the Quebec official referred to simply states that a player "must not use equipment or wear anything which is dangerous to himself or another player (including any kind of jewelry.)" Did I mention the referee in this controversy is a Muslim? Well.. I for one applaud Mr Maneiro, Asmahan, her teammates and the 5 other teams from the Ottawa region that withdrew in solidarity. In a world where you hear about coaches that scream and become violent, and put winning above all else, it's refreshing to hear one stood up for his values and that those values were put before the team winning a tournament. Love you all more than my luggage! Hugs, smooches and gropes!