Eleven-year-old Hajar Outbih was supposed to fight in a judo match but was thrown out because she was wearing a hijab
Updated Sat. Nov. 17 2007 9:33 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Judo Manitoba gave a bureaucratic boot Saturday to a little girl who just wanted to participate in a tournament.
Eleven-year-old Hajar Outbih was all prepared to fight her match at a Judo tournament in Winnipeg. Instead, the little girl left the mat in tears.
Hajar was told at the last minute that she had to take off her religiously-based head scarf known as a hijab. She’s a Muslim, so she refused.
Tournament officials claimed the covering, which is tightly wound around Hajar’s head, was a safety issue. They said they were just following the rules of the International Judo Federation (IJF).
But nowhere in the rules of the IJF, which are posted online, does it state that a head covering cannot be worn. In fact, a search of the website does not mention at all that head scarves are a safety concern in a sport that is practiced widely throughout the world, including in Muslim countries.
The website also states that national and other tournaments have the flexibility to apply different rules than those of the IJF.
Hajar was visibly shaken and crying after she was forced off the mat. The little girl hugged her mother and in tears told her, “They said that I can’t fight. If I want to fight I have to take it off or I have to leave.”
Captured on home video shot just before she was disqualified from the tournament, her father had tried to console his daughter as best he could.
“Just explain to (the referee) you need to keep it on. That you have the right to keep it,” her father said.
“This is discrimination.”
But Judo Manitoba President Dave Minuk defended the decision to bar the girl from competing. He claimed officials aren’t being intolerant.
“It has nothing to do with religion. It’s a safety issue,” he insisted.
“It could be used to strangle somebody. It could fall over her face.”
Hajar’s mother, also shaken by the entire incident and holding back tears, said all her daughter wanted to do was participate like any other child.
“As a mom, I feel so bad that my daughter will go through this,” said Khadaja Raoui.
Hajar says the sport should be more accommodating for people of all backgrounds.
“I think they should change the rules because there are lots of different people in the world,” she said.
“There are not just Christians. There are other religions and it should be fair for everybody.”
Oddly, even though Hajar was not allowed to participate, tournament officials tried to pacify the little girl by offering her a participation medal.
She turned them down.
With a report from CTV Winnipeg’s Stacey Ashley
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