Hijab Allowed for Muslim Basketballers
"It came up in our board meeting and everyone supported making the change,” USA Basketball CEO Jim Tooley told AP news agency.
The decision, allowing headgear, including the hijab and yarmulkes, followed Thursday’s meeting for International Basketball Federation (FIBA).
"The new rule comes as a result of the fact that traditional dress codes in some countries – which called for the head and/or entire body being covered – were incompatible with FIBA’s previous headgear rule,” FIBA said in a statement cited by Aljazeera.
Under the new rule, headgear must meet certain criteria to be allowed in competition, including that it "does not cover any part of the face entirely or partially”, it is "not dangerous to the player wearing it or other players” and it does not have "parts extruding from its surface”.
Previous rules had banned the practice, over what world governing body Fiba said was a safety issue.
The Qatar women’s team withdrew from the 2014 Asian Games after being denied permission to wear the hijab – a head covering worn by many Muslim women.
FIBA began a revision process of its headgear rule in September 2014, with exceptions being granted at national level as part of a two-year testing period.
The new rule is set to come into effect in October.
Source: aboutislam.net
