‘Lift ban on religious headgear of basketball players’

From Lalit K Jha Washington, Aug 31 (PTI) Over 50 interfaith and advocacyorganisations have called on the International BasketballFederation to lift its ban on religious headgear that barsMuslim, Sikh and Jewish athletes from competing on aprofessional level and "defies human rights norms". "No athlete should be forced to choose between faith andsport. "Muslim women and Sikh men seeking to participate insporting activities like anyone else should not facesuperficial and arbitrary barriers to that participation,"these organisations said in a letter to Horacio Muratore,President of the Switzerland-based Federation Internationalede Basketball (FIBA) or International Basketball Federation. "We understand FIBA is expected to announce a permanentdecision in the near future on whether the ban on religiousaccommodations will be enforced. We believe this rule, as itstands, violates basic religious rights of athletes like(Darsh Preet) Singh and Abdul-Qaadir, and countless others,and defies international human rights norms," said the letter. FIFA’s International Football Association Board hasacknowledged the religious rights of athletes by changing itsrules to allow hijabs and Sikh turbans, it said yesterday. "We request that FIBA follow suit and amend thisdiscriminatory policy to allow athletes of all faiths tocompete while maintaining religious principles," said theletter, which among others have been signed by the Council onAmerican-Islamic Relations (CAIRA) and the Sikh Coalition. CAIR spokesperson Zainab Chaudry said the open letter,signed by dozens of diverse national and local organisations,indicates the "strong support for religious accommodation insports". "Athletes of all faith traditions are inspired by theirreligious beliefs to work hard to qualify and compete inprofessional-level sports. We respectfully urge Mr. Muratoreand FIBA to change the discriminatory policy and let allathletes play," he said. "The dozens of organisations signed on to this letter allagree that FIBA’s ban has an unfair and discriminatory impacton Muslim, Sikh and Jewish players," said MPower ChangeCampaign Manager Mohammad Khan. "Other international sporting organisations, such asFIFA, allow religious head coverings. FIBA should join themand allow athletes of all backgrounds to participate inprofessional and international basketball," he said. "We urge FIBA to end its discriminatory ban and allowSikh, Muslim and Jewish athletes to compete at the highestlevel," said Sikh Coalition Director of Law & Policy ArjunSingh. PTI LKJSAI