INGRID PERITZ
MONTREAL — The Globe and Mail
Published Friday, Jun. 14 2013, 10:05 AM EDT
Last updated Friday, Jun. 14 2013, 10:47 PM EDT
A
controversy over faith, sports and tolerance in Canada appears
to be heading toward resolution after soccer’s top authority
gave its approval to Sikh turbans on the field.
The nod from soccer’s world body, FIFA, could bring an end to
Quebec sports officials’ ban on Sikh head coverings, which
sparked a nationwide furor and gained worldwide attention. The
Quebec Soccer Federation has called a 10 a.m. news conference
for Saturday at which it is expected to repeal the widely
criticized measure.
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If it goes ahead, it will open the door to as many as 200
turban-wearing Sikh boys hoping to play organized soccer again
after being told they were unwelcome.
The turban debate spilled from the soccer pitch to the political
field after Quebec soccer executives gained support from Parti
Québecois Premier Pauline Marois. On Friday, as opinions shifted
away from the Premier, Ms. Marois maintained that the provincial
soccer group was right to wait for FIFA’s ruling.
“The Quebec federation was totally within its rights to make
this decision [for the ban], and I continue to respect its
autonomy,” she said in Quebec City. She said criticism of Quebec
over the turban ban, the only such prohibition in Canada, was
“sad” and “a shame.”
“There are plenty of countries in the world where different
rules apply and people respect one another,” she said.
FIFA issued its decision after the Canadian Soccer Association
suspended the Quebec group this week over the dispute. In its
ruling, FIFA specifically addressed Canada and said that men’s
head coverings were permitted as long as they met safety
standards and complied with rules such as being the same colour
as uniforms. The rules applied “in all areas and on all levels
of the Canadian football community,” FIFA said.
In issuing its ruling, the body demolished one of the Quebec
group’s two arguments against turbans. The Quebec federation
argued they were a safety risk, although it never offered any
evidence. It also said FIFA had not explicitly endorsed turbans.
The Quebec Soccer Federation said it welcomed FIFA’s decision
with “enthusiasm and relief” because it offered the clarity it
was seeking. FIFA’s ruling is temporary, and the body is
expected to issue a final decision next year.
Quebec has been roiled for years by debates about the place of
religion and the accommodation of minorities in the province.
Sikh organizations, which say the Quebec Soccer Federation has
not responded to their requests to discuss the issue for two
years, hope FIFA’s intervention has put an end to the saga.
“We hope [the Quebec federation] will do the sensible thing and
lift the ban,” said Balpreet Singh, spokesman for the World Sikh
Organization of Canada. “We look forward to the day when all
children can play soccer regardless of their faith and
background. At the end of the day, it was really about letting
these kids play with their friends. It confuses us why it had to
go this far.” He noted that registration for organized soccer is
over and hoped the deadline would be extended to allow Sikh
children around Montreal to return to the field.
Most, though not all, Quebec commentators were critical of the
turban ban, while public comments on news websites often
expressed hostility to religious headwear on the pitch – some
calling it a refusal to integrate. (A Léger Marketing poll found
that more than 80 per cent of Quebeckers think athletes should
not be allowed to modify their gear for religious purposes.)
However, other people showed gestures of solidarity toward the
sidelined Sikh boys. On Friday night, a group of non-Sikh soccer
players in Montreal’s West Island planned to don turbans during
their regular league match.
“I think the Quebec ruling was wrong and I don’t think it’s fair
that kids who wear turbans couldn’t play,” said organizer Derek
Kopke. “I just felt it was something to stand up for.”
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