Quebec coach pulls team over hijab ruling

Last Updated: Monday, April 16, 2007 | 1:05 AM ET

CBC News

A coach withdrew her girls team from a taekwondo tournament in Quebec on Sunday after being informed that its Muslim members wouldn't be allowed to compete while wearing hijabs.

Carole Ste.-Marie told the CBC her team had never encountered a hijab ban in three years of competition.
(CBC)

If someone yanked on the traditional Muslim headcovering, a portion of which hangs beneath the players' helmets, strangulation was possible, officials told the coach Sunday in Longueuil, a Montreal suburb.

Carole Ste.-Marie told CBC that her team had never encountered this issue in the three years her six-member squad, five of whom are Muslims, has competed.

Tournament referee Stéphane Ménard said the decision to apply the rule to the letter was reached at a morning referees' meeting.

Tournament organizer Raymond Mourad said he wanted officials to let the Muslim girls compete Sunday and issue a warning for the next meet, but his pleas were ignored.

In February, a Muslim girl was barred from playing in a Laval soccer tournament for wearing a hijab, which an amateur soccer official cited as a safety hazard. That ruling was upheld by FIFA, the sport's governing body.