As a former soccer player, I must applaud FIFA ruling allowing Sikh children to wear turbans when playing the game. It must have taken guts to order another soccer body, the Quebec Soccer Federation, to allow Sikh kids to play while wearing turbans.
The move is expected to allow as many as 200 turban wearing Sikh kids, who were not welcome on soccer fields, to play soccer again. The main reason for the ban, according to the Quebec Soccer Federation (QSF), was that of safety, but without offering any evidence of safety breaches. As far as everyone else is concerned, allowing a Sikh to play soccer has hurt no one. What safety issue the Quebec Soccer federation was talking about is a mystery. How on earth a simple turban made of cloth can be unsafe or treacherous is beyond me. The Sikh kids wear turbans not helmets made of steel in case the Quebec officials haven’t noticed.
Had Quebec soccer officials imposed the ban, it would have meant poor Sikh
kids would have to play in their own backyards and not play against any teams competitively. Games are played for players’ enjoyment, to teach them discipline and
make them learn camaraderie. They also have to be team players so that they support other players on the team. So there is more to it than just playing a game.
The turban issue in soccer was so explosive that even the Quebec premier took time from politics to get involved. “The Quebec federation was totally within its rights to make this decision (for the ban), and I continue to respect its autonomy,” Quebec premier Pauline Marcois said. She described criticism of the Quebec turban ban as “sad” and “a shame.”
“There are plenty of countries in the world where different rules apply and people respect one another,” she said.
With due respect to the premier, I think she has missed the point completely. Yes, Madame Premier, there are different rules in every country as you point out, but here we are talking about rules, which the governing body, FIFA, has imposed and they were not being followed in your province. As you say Madame Premier that people respect one another, then why is it that the Sikh beliefs and culture are not being respected. We are talking here about minority rights, which formed the basis of the suspension. I feel her aides should advise her to strictly stick to politics.
Luckily for everyone concerned, FIFA clarified the rules and lifted the suspension imposed on turban wearing kids. FIFA ruled that men’s headwear was permitted as long as it met safety standards, was the same colour as the rest of a player’s uniform and did not pose any danger. The rules applied “in all areas and on all levels of the Canadian football community,” FIFA said.
The FIFA statement was in complete contradiction of the Quebec Federation’s allegation that turbans posed a security risk. To everyone’s surprise, the QSF welcomed FIFA ruling “with enthusiasm and relief.”
The ruling was a relief also to the World Sikh Federation of Canada spokesman Balpreet Singh who said the QSF’s decision was “long overdue.”
“It’s been our position from the outset that the accommodation of the turban shouldn’t hinge on FIFA rules but instead on the Canadian tradition of diversity and acceptance and also on Canadian rules and law,”
Soccer associations from outside Quebec welcomed the FIFA directive. Quebec was the only province to not abide by a Canadian Soccer Association to permit turbans on the pitch.
“We should not be barring any person from participating in sport, we have to find a way to be more inclusive … we have to find a way of bringing more people into the sport,” said Lucille Abate, president of York region soccer association, a Toronto-area organization with a total of 25 teams and roughly 55,000 members.
“Discrimination of any sort won’t be tolerated, it shouldn’t be tolerated in sports,” she said.
We must congratulate FIFA for showing maturity, diplomacy, leadership and cultural awareness in their handling of the turban suspension. All is well that ends well, and we hope Sikh kids will flood soccer grounds this summer.
