Nate’s Nation — FIFA Lifts Ban on Religious Tur-bans
NATE GARCIA
Sports Editor
With the 2014 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup approaching in 63 days, people around the world are preparing for the event, some by approving travel plans and others by finishing building new stadiums.
Other ways in which people are preparing for the event are political, and include, well, passing laws. It may not be the most cheerful task during this buildup of excitement for the tournament, although in this case it has brought joy to thousands.
Recently, FIFA ruled to lift a ban on religious headwear issued by the Quebec Soccer Federation last April, and now permits participants to sport religious headwear in matches. The lifting of the ban took place after a 20-month trial that was used to test the safety of wearing religious headwear during a game, since some officials claimed that the headwear could cause injury if used during a match.
Several people from different nations protested the ban at first. The ban was a form of discrimination against certain religious groups, preventing them from wearing religious articles such as turbans, hijabs and kippas. Although the ban was issued as a safety precaution, and not to discriminate against any group, it still had an opposition from religious soccer players who were unable to wear the articles. The headwear is part of the players’ practiced religion; taking away the right for them to use it is preventing them from practicing religion.
As a practicing Catholic, this ban on religious headwear would be put on the same level as, say, a ban on me being able to wear a cross during a sporting event. During a finals track race, I was nearly disqualified and stripped of my medal for wearing a rosary pendant around my neck during the race. The race official told me it apparently had the capability to harm somebody. However, I protested with the right to wear it for religious purposes, and for him to tell me to remove it would be a form of discrimination, preventing me from practicing my religion.
If I am able to wear religious articles in my sporting events, any other person around the world should be able to too. For this matter, I am very happy that FIFA ruled in favor of letting people freely wear the turbans, hijabs and kippas while they play the sport they love. The FIFA World Cup is an event shared throughout the world that symbolizes friendly competition and unity among nations, and participants should be able to freely wear their religious articles to have pride in their culture. It truly diversifies the tournament, showcasing talent from all over the world in their own unique ways.