So, I've been busy during the last month, but I'm sure that many head covering loved ones have heard a bit of the news during June concerning FIFA and Quebec and rulings about headcoverings. Here's a re-cap (pardon the pun):
June 14, 2013 -- The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) said in a
statement Friday that it is temporarily authorizing the wearing of male
head covers at all levels of Canadian soccer, applying a 2012 ruling
that allowed specially designed hijabs for women.
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| wearing turbans to protest Quebec soccer fed's ban |
The statement outlines certain rules for allowing the male headwear on the pitch.
“(FIFA)
authorises the CSA to permit all players to wear head covers ... in all
areas and on all levels of the Canadian football community,” the
statement from the world body reads.
FIFA’s position comes four
days after the Canadian Soccer Association suspended Quebec’s soccer
federation because the provincial body banned Sikh headwear. Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/sports/soccer/FIFA+fine+with+Sikh+head+coverings/8526036/story.html#ixzz2XTYHiPy7
The Quebec soccer federation, in typical "what are those headcoverings for anyway?" fashion, claimed safety precautions, and wouldn't budge on their ban until the world headquarters, FIFA, laid down an official international law.
So FIFA did.
And so:
June 15, 2013 -- The Quebec Soccer Federation (QSF) announced it has reversed its ban on
players wearing turbans or related religious headwear on the pitch,
saying it is pleased with the international soccer body's clarification
on the issue, and it's "deeply sorry" if anyone was offended.
Oh, those nasty headcoverings. Ruining soccer/football games now. But, it's not the cloth that is the problem. The problem is not understanding those headcoverings.
As Amal Singh Chahal (who lives in Toronto and helped to put together the boycott page linked above)
was quoted: “Excluding kids just because they have uncut hair and they’re keeping
a turban to keep it tied is just unfathomable. I can’t believe it in
this day and age."
Did you know that's why the Sikhs wear turbans? Because they have uncut hair and the turban keeps it tied up and clean? That's part of the reason. It is also a symbol of equality, begun in an era when only the high class wore turbans, showing that all Sikhs are equally royal. It is a symbol of their commitment and obedience to their faith, to God, and to those who came before them. It is said that the turban becomes truly a part of the believer's head, just as Sikhism is a part of his entire life. Even when playing soccer.
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| photo from CBC.ca |
For more on "why Sikhs wear turban", see the following articles:
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Oh, and this just in: a
Sikh bus driver just won the right to wear a turban in Finland. Just so you know.
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