The recent news that the Iranian women’s football team are to be banned from competing at the London 2012 Olympics by FIFA should raise questions on what is and what is not acceptable for teams to wear and what are the boundaries in what kind of attire can be worn on the pitch.
Iran were assigned to play Jordan in Amman on Friday 3rd June in a London 2012 Olympic qualifier, but a FIFA organiser called the game off due to their ‘‘hijab’’ style of clothing, as it does not conform to Law 4 – Players’ Equipment, that was laid out by international football’s governing body.
FIFA’s course of action is based on Iran wearing a full-body kit with added headscarf to keep in touch with their religious beliefs. This decision appears to show a lack of consistency on FIFA’s part especially if comments made by Ali Kafashian, head of Iran’s Football Federation, are to be believed. Kafashian, quoted in an Arman newspaper, said, ‘‘the (Iranian) Football Federation had already discussed with FIFA director (Sepp Blatter) for Iranian women’s participation with full Islamic hijab. We managed to acquire Blatter’s consent on this matter.’’
FIFA have refuted this claim and said that both party’s had agreed in the spring of 2010 that the women’s team were permitted to wearing a cap that covers the head to their hairline, but that would not extend below the ears – in keeping with the Laws of the Game. Maybe it is because of this ‘reassurance’ that Marzieh Akbarabadi, Iran’s official in charge of women’s sports, feels the move is politically motivated.
The FIFA official who inflicted this ban is a Bahraini national and Akbarabadi detects that something else may be on the agenda. He contradicted FIFA’s assertion and said that the team’s kit was ‘‘of the same style that FIFA had approved,’’ but senses that, because of a recent crackdown on Shiite protesters in Iran by the Sunni rulers of Bahrain, the Bahraini official ‘‘took advantage of an international event.’’ After all the recent fuss over Blatter’s re-election – if you can class it an election – as FIFA President, this is all they need, dealing with an issue that is much more than being about football.
In some ways, FIFA could be seen to be doing Iranian women a favour in not letting them play in attire that comes draped in historic and discriminatory connotations; signs of an oppressive regime. Although, this is not them making a stand against these conditions – not according to what they say anyway. Instead, it is them merely sticking to the book. Many people will find the reasons why most Iranian women have to cover themselves up from head to toe as aberrant, due to religious purposes that are based on prejudice (some people say it is connected with religion whilst others state that it’s a ‘cultural’ thing; one that is patriarchal. It could also be deemed that they are both intertwined).
FIFA could be accused of being hypocritical when it comes to their actions because if they, judging by their actions, can respect the beliefs of the rulers in Qatar, a country that was chosen to host the 2022 World Cup despite it being a land where it is illegal to be homosexual, then surely they can respect the beliefs of the Iranian government? You cannot have one rule for someone then another for someone else when they are both behaving in virtually the same manner.
Click HERE to head to PAGE TWO…