(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - A UN top official has expressed support for an initiative that would allow female soccer players to wear hijab.
“FIFA has the responsibility to ensure that everyone has an equal chance to participate in football, without any barriers and regardless of gender, race, ability, age, culture or religious beliefs,” said UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace Wilfried Lemke.
The initiative, driven by FIFA Vice-President Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, stresses that every person should have the right to enjoy the world’s most popular sport regardless of their gender, race or religious beliefs.
In a letter to FIFA President Joseph Blatter, Lemke expressed his “wish that the issue can be resolved in a way that respects both the laws of the game as well as cultural considerations, while promoting football for all women without discrimination.”
“Such a harmonization would remove a barrier that can deter women and girls from participating in football,” he said.
Earlier this month, Lemke attended the 5th World Conference on Women and Sport, organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Los Angeles, California.
The declaration issued by the participants stressed that “the promotion of women’s participation in sports activities, management and administration should, and must, serve the wider goal of supporting the international agenda of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.”
In 2007, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) upheld a ban on hijab, requiring the neck and ears to remain uncovered.
During its annual meeting on Saturday, IFAB is set to review the laws of the game regarding the use of headscarves by female players.
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