Fresh FIFA hijab concerns shock Prince Ali

BUDAPEST — Evidence from FIFA’s medical experts on why the ban on Muslim women footballers wearing the headscarf or hijab should remain in place was deeply flawed and had no foundation, the campaign’s principal supporter said Friday.

Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein of Jordan, whose presentation to soccer’s law-making body IFAB six weeks ago saw the approval of the headscarf pending health and safety checks, said he was "shocked and disturbed” by the evidence presented.

"If it is true, I would accept it, but I believe it was without foundation,” he told reporters.

The IFAB, or International Football Association Board, comprises FIFA and the four British Home Associations.

Michel D’Hooghe of Belgium, the head of FIFA’s medical committee, said he would only recommend to the extraordinary IFAB meeting on July 5 in Zurich that extra tests should be carried out on the headscarf which is crucial to millions of Muslim women playing the game all over the world.
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