FIBA keeps up with the faith

Women’s basketball took a big leap forward Thursday, thanks to their now being allowed what, on the surface, appears to be a deceptively small concession: head covering. Basketball’s governing body FIBA held its first-ever mid-term congress in Hong Kong this week, and the gathering of 139 national federations unanimously approved the FIBA Central Board’s decision to allow players to wear headgear, particularly as it pertains to their faith.

Previously, headgear was considered a potential risk of injury to the player wearing it and other players. But in some countries, women wear head coverings as a sign of modesty and for other reasons. Some traditional dress codes even require that the entire body be covered. This ran in conflict with FIBA’s previous rule. As part of a two-year testing period, FIBA began modifications of its rule in September 2014. That month, the Qatar women’s basketball team withdrew from the Asian Games in South Korea, after being denied permission to wear the hijab, a traditional head covering worn by many Muslim women. As of 2014, FIBA Rule 3, Article 4.4.2 did not allow “Headgear, hair accessories and jewelry”. Earlier that year, football body FIFA allowed the wearing of head covering for religious reasons at its matches.

The same FIBA rule allows for protective gear for injured body parts, but not casts. It also allowed the use of compression sleeves and compression stockings, which suffice to cover the other parts of the body as required by certain faiths.

In 2011, FIBA denied the Israeli women’s team’s request to allow their Jewish point guard Naama Shafir to wear an undershirt beneath her jersey in keeping with her faith’s modesty rules. FIBA cited rules in European competition that all team members must wear uniforms that are exactly the same. Shafir said she would not compromise her faith by playing with bare shoulders. This caused an uproar, particularly with the US-based Anti-Defamation League. Amateur leagues in the US allow players to wear undershirts that are the same color as their jersey. Shafir played for Toledo in the US NCAA, where she was allowed to wear her undershirt. Her teammates even made sure she would not have to drive to games on the Jewish Sabbath.

“The unwillingness to accommodate a religious value is certainly insensitive and borders on prejudice,” Anti-Defamation League director Abraham Foxman said then, adding that the undershirt did not interfere with Shafir’s game.

The new FIBA rule, which will come into effect Oct. 1, also carries some conditions. The headgear must be black or white, or the same dominant color as the uniform. It must also be the same color for all players on the team who wear it, and must not cover any part of the face. It must have no extruding parts, opening or closing elements around the face or neck (presumably like clasps or buttons), and must pose no hazard to any player.

The FIBA Mid-Term Congress also issued praise for a historic moment in Iran on April 13, when a FIBA test game featuring women wearing hijabs marked the first time men watched a women’s sporting event live.

What does this mean for the women’s game? Firstly, it will open the door for more women to play the game competitively, as they may now stay true to their faith and its laws while playing competitive basketball. Apparently anticipation of this breakthrough rule, one sports brand released its own commercial head covering with its logo discreetly on one side. The only thing that must be ensured is that the head covering (as well as the covering of other body parts used by female basketball players) does not inadvertently get torn and reveal their skin during a game. This will make it easier for succeeding generations of Muslim women to take up the sport.

The new rule also creates a large new market for uniform designers and sports apparel makers. Now they can design uniforms with sleeves and stockings in mind. If you recall, the Australian women’s basketball team famously wore one-piece team uniforms in the 1990’s, which are allowed under FIBA rules. This made for more flow in the design of uniforms, particularly with the advent of sublimation, wherein the pattern is part of the material itself, and not just printed or stitched on.

Of course, it will also mean other things. Audiences will learn to get used to seeing women covered from head to foot on the basketball court, as they already have in athletics, football and other sports. At the same time, referees must also make an adjustment, since full-body covering will lessen the number of visible distinguishing marks that help them tell players apart.

But all of these are just minor tweaks.