Progress on headscarves for women footballers
08/03/2012
At the most recent IFAB annual general meeting in England at the start of March, members of the board saw a presentation on the wearing of headscarves by female players. The IFAB agreed to the proposal in principle, but ordered "an accelerated review of health and safety issues" that may be involved. It said it hoped to make a final endorsement at a special meeting of the board that will take place on July 2.
Approval then would mean women could cover their heads for matches at the Olympic Games, which start in London on July 26. The news will be of particular interest to Muslim women footballers.
In June 2011, a qualifying match for the Olympics between the Iranian and Jordanian women's teams was cancelled within minutes of kick-off because the Iranians, in keeping with legislation in their own country, insisted on wearing kit that covered the players' legs and arms, plus a headscarf. The Iranian football association said at the time this was a kit arrangement that it felt was in keeping with the requirements of world football's ruling body, FIFA, and one that it had worn unchallenged in earlier matches.
FIFA said then that players were allowed to wear a cap that covers their head to the hairline, but does not extend below the ears to cover the neck. "Despite initial assurances that the Iranian delegation understood this, the players came out wearing the hijab, and the head and neck totally covered, which was an infringement of the laws of the game," the organisation said. "The match commissioner and match referee therefore decided to apply correctly the laws of the game, which ended in the match being abandoned."
The anticipated change in the law will mean no repeat of this will take place during the Olympic tournament. Sadly for Iran, its women's team failed to qualify. Perhaps being handed an automatic 3-0 defeat after the controversy in Jordan in June 2011 didn't help.
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