Refs Didn't Allow Girl To Wear Hijab During Soccer Game, But Her Teammates Had Her Back (Photo)
In a kind of shocking show of cultural insensitivity and religious ignorance, a group of high school referees told one female player that she wouldn't be allowed time in the soccer game while wearing her hijab.
While Samah Aidah was prohibited from playing in this one particular instance, her teammates at Overland High School responded by all donning head scarves for the next game.
One other player, Twitter handle @DivineDavis, posted a photo to the social media site to show the team's solidarity and support of Aidah.
the refs wouldn't let Samah play with her hijab so today we all wore one for the game #lovemyteam#letsamahplay pic.twitter.com/egHI3KCUzd — Divine Davis (@DivineDavis) March 14, 2014
And it seems like plenty of people agree that the refs' call was bogus — the colorful photo has since garnered over 40,000 retweets and favorites so far.
It's awesome that the team was so incensed over a fellow player's treatment that they made a bold show of support, but kind of unbelievable that the refs were allowed to make that call in the first place.
I'm no soccer buff, nor do I know about the code that referees use for their calls, but freedom of expression should certainly be in there under the "do not f*ck with this" column, no?
Even FIFA allows its female participants to play with their heads covered, so why should a small-time school league be any different?
