(WFI) UN special adviser on sport Wilfried Lemke tells the World Olympic Sport Convention of his delight at the International Football Association Board’s decision last month to scrap the ban on female footballers wearing the Islamic hijab on the field of play.
Lemke told delegates at the Moscow meeting on Tuesday that he had played a role through discussions with FIFA vice president Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, who had spearheaded a high-profile campaign to scrap the headscarf ban. He also spoke with IOC president Jacques Rogge about the issue to push for the lifting of the rule.
“I don’t feel well when we forbid women who wear this headscarf because of their culture, when they play football,” Lemke said in a speech at the conference.
“This is stupid. We want to engage women, especially where it is not normal for them to play sport.
“We want to encourage them, not forbid them. We finally got the result from FIFA.”
