(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - "It is very important that everybody has the chance to play the sport that they love and obviously the laws of the games have to be amended to allow that," Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein of Jordan, a FIFA vice-president, told Reuters on Friday, February 10, in an interview in Singapore.
"I think that football, being the most popular sport in the world, accessible to all, we should take the lead on this issue and therefore that is what we are trying to pursue and hopefully we will get a pass from International Football Association Board (IFAB)."
FIFA rules ban the wearing of hijab on pitch.
In April 2010, FIFA announced that it was planning to ban hijab and other religious outings during the 2012 Olympics.
Last June, the governing body ruled that the code dress of the Iranian women football team broke its rules, dashing the Islamic Republic’s Olympic dreams.
Following a request from the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) women’s committee to reconsider the ban, IFAB, the soccer's ultimate law-making body comprising four members from the sport's world governing body, FIFA, and four from the British associations, decided to reconsider the issue during its meeting next March 3 in England.
At the meeting, Prince Ali will present the case for allowing players to use a Dutch-designed Velcro hijab which comes apart if pulled and, he hopes, will remove safety concerns.
"As far as I'm concerned, I want to make sure and guarantee what it is - that football is for everyone," said the Prince, who at 36 is the youngest member of FIFA's all-powerful executive committee.
"If you look at other sports such as rugby, they are allowed to play so therefore we hope it will be the same case with football."
A three-quarters majority is required for the proposal to be passed by IFAB, who first banned the hijab in 2007 when 11-year-old Asmahan Mansour was prevented from playing a match by the Quebec Soccer Federation after she refused to remove her headscarf.
"I do hope and do believe that if common sense does prevail all will be supportive of this, why not?
"I don't like the politics, we are going straight to the point which is to allow all of our players to participate on all levels," Prince Ali said.
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