Good Sports: BASKETBALL BODY LIFTS BAN ON TURBANS
Sikh basketball players and others were thrilled to hear that FIBA, the world governing body for basketball, has unanimously lifted its ban on players who wear religious head coverings. Male players will be able to wear turbans and yarmulkes, and female players will be able wear hijabs, encouraging more of them to play the sport.
Darsh Preet Singh (left), who played for Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, from 2004 to 2008, had his jersey displayed at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of Natural History in 2015 as part of an exhibit on the contributions of Indian-Americans.
The Sikh Coalition has been working with lawmakers and other civil rights organizations to demand that FIBA lift its ban on religious headwear. “Nobody should ever be forced to choose between their sport and their faith,” said Simran Jeet Singh, the Sikh Coalition’s senior religion fellow.
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