Women's match called off over headscarves
A referee on Sunday refused to officiate a women's football match, when players for one of the teams took to the pitch wearing Muslim headscarves, the club involved said.
The official sent a report to the Languedoc-Roussillon league in the south of the country about the incident involving players from Petit-Bard Montpellier, who had been due to play Narbonne in the regional promotion tie.
The league must now decide whether to order the match to be replayed or to award a win to Narbonne.
The two teams played a friendly match instead, with Narbonne winning 7-6.
Football's world governing body FIFA banned players from wearing the Islamic headscarf in 2007, claiming it is unsafe.
But football federations and even the United Nations have urged FIFA to lift the ban, maintaining that concerns about safety are baseless and that it discriminates against Muslim players, particularly when no such restrictions apply in other sports.
Iran's women's team last year forfeited a 2012 Olympic qualifier because players wouldn't play without wearing hijabs.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.