A Canadian girls soccer team pulled out of a tournament Sunday after a referee refused to allow a player on the field because of her Islamic head scarf, the Calgary Sun reported Monday.
Coach Louis Maneiro pulled his girls under-12 team from the tournament in Laval, Quebec, and vowed never to come back after a referee said 11-year-old striker Asmahan Mansour couldn't play while wearing her hijab, the paper reported.
"It was a no-brainer," Maneiro said. "I said that's it, we're not playing."
But tournament organizers said that allowing the player to wear her hijab would compromise her safety on the soccer field.
"It is not at all a question of religion," said Carole Fortin, the tournament's organizer. "The referee of the match is himself a Muslim. There is no place for racism here."
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