Hijab-clad soccer girl turfed

Muslim girl forced to leave field for wearing head scarf

By JON WILLING, SUN MEDIA


11-year-old striker Asmahan Mansour (Sun Media).

Quebec Soccer Federation was just following rules

Coach lauded for 'Canadian move'

OTTAWA
(Sun Media) - Dismayed that a referee wouldn't allow a player on the
pitch wearing a traditional Islamic head scarf, an Ottawa coach pulled
his team from a massive indoor soccer tournament in Laval, Que.,
yesterday and vowed never to return to the tournament. "It was a no-brainer," Louis Maneiro said before leaving the
ARS Laval National tourney with his girls under-12 competitive team. "I
said, 'That's it, we're not playing.' " Controversy erupted during the Nepean Hotspurs' third game
of the tournament when the team's second line stepped onto the field. The referee said 11-year-old striker Asmahan Mansour couldn't play because she was wearing a hijab.

After trying to reason with the ref and the tournament convener,
Maneiro pulled his team from the remaining games, with full support
from the players and their parents. A tournament organizer said not allowing players to wear hijabs is a safety concern, not a religious one.

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"It is not at all a question of
religion," Carole Fortin said. "The referee of the match is himself a
Muslim. There is no place for racism here." Asmahan started wearing the hijab when she was nine, a decision she made on her own.

The Muslim girl said the kurfuffle during yesterday's game was "weird,"
especially since she had no problems with referees in the team's two
previous games on Saturday. Asmahan said it's a "blessing" to wear the hijab and she
would never take it off to play soccer, "not even for a million
dollars." She was initially angry about all the fuss, but she said
later in the day she got over it. Her mother, Maria Mansour, said "it broke my heart" to see her daughter at the centre of controversy.

Asmahan has never encountered discrimination in the past and up until
yesterday, she has never had problems with wearing the hijab during a
soccer game, Maria said. Asmahan said the experience in Laval won't stop her from playing soccer.

The Canadian Soccer Association wouldn't comment directly on the
incident, but Joe Guest, director of referees, said "the CSA promotes
fair play amongst its officials to ensure that they provide the
opportunity for all to partake safely in the sport." Maneiro was planning to go over the day's events with the Nepean club's executive last night, but he already made one decision.
"As a team we're not coming back here," Maneiro said before leaving Laval.