Suspend the Ump

Posted on April 27, 2004 in Hatred Morals & Ethics

It’s politics Tuesday!

The Victorian Soccer Federation claims that “religious discrimination” had nothing to do with it. I doubt it:

A women’s football match has been called off in Australia after a player was told she could not take part unless she removed her Islamic headscarf.


Afifa Saad is in her fourth season playing with South Melbourne Women’s Soccer Club, where she always plays in a white headscarf and long trousers.


But Sunday’s game against Keilor Park was the first time a referee had asked her to remove her headscarf.


When she refused, both her team mates and the opposition supported her.

I can see no reason for calling for the removal of the hijab from this woman’s head, not for safety, not to make it easy to discern which team the woman played for. My suspicion is that the referee crumbled in the face of the outrage. When s/he called the Federation to explain her/himself, “safety” jumped from her/his lips as a cover for prejudice.

The circumstances suggest that we must be wary. Saad is a Muslim woman who chooses to wear the hijab. She takes steps to avoid having the near-nudity of her participation in this spectator sport turn her into a sex toy. Not every woman feels this concern, but I respect Saad’s expression of both her faith and her personal boundaries.

By ruling discrimination out of hand, the Victorian Soccer Federation functions to prevent scrutiny of the referee’s motives for making the call. No amount of interrogation will make a closet bigot confess her or his motives. What is needed here is sensitivity training. If the referee is not a flaming hater, then it is not unfair to assume that s/he might be a quiet one.

Last week, MacDiva addressed the implications of what happens when you forbid discussions of prejudice:

When voices that would interrogate racist assumptions are silenced, those assumptions carry the day.

For this reason, the VSF must act sternly. The referee should be suspended pending her/his completion of a cultural sensitivity course. Training for referees should include more thoroughgoing discussion of allowing for cultural and personal exprssions while keeping the game safe. The referee, like every player, must be held accountable for her/his actions. Where there is question of prejudice, a suspension is in order. Where there is no doubt and no contrition, the referee should be fired.

My thanks to Allison for calling my attention to this story.