Female Soccer Players Covered Head to Toe Inflame Islamists

[mota bhai 2,675]

In the end, members of the Libyan women’s soccer team decided they wouldn’t pose for an official photograph. They talked about standing with their backs to the camera and concluded it would just be too risky.

They train in different venues every week, with addresses shared at the last minute by phone messages and texts. As they ran drills recently in Tripoli, they were guarded by a security detail carrying machine guns. The rise of religious extremists since the fall of Muammar Qaddafi has made it dangerous for women to even practice Libya’s favorite sport.

...

The popular cleric Salim Jabar said in a televised sermon last month that female footballers had “soiled the honor of their families with the filth of nudity and shamelessness.” The Ansar al-Sharia militia demanded the team not play a match July 24 in Berlin because it “could lead to unforgiveable things.”

The struggles of the team mirror what all Libyan women are confronting, said Hadia Gana, a graphics designer in Tripoli. “It’s about control,” she said. “Control of women by men.”

...

Members of the government-funded soccer team dress conservatively. Their blue tracksuits provide cover from ankle to neck; more than half of them conceal their hair with hijabs approved by the International Federation of Association Football, soccer’s governing body.

What female athletes wear isn’t what upsets extremists, said Sonja Kluemper, one the founders of Discover Football, a nonprofit that sponsors annual tournaments in Berlin for female soccer teams from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia and the Palestinian territories.

“Football challenges gender roles,” she said. “It’s not about sports. It’s a political issue.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-18/female-footballers-covered-head-to-toe-inflame-islamists.html

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

Any religion pushed to the extreme is bad.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

In the end, members of the Libyan women’s soccer team decided they wouldn’t pose for an official photograph. They talked about standing with their backs to the camera and concluded it would just be too risky.

They train in different venues every week, with addresses shared at the last minute by phone messages and texts. As they ran drills recently in Tripoli, they were guarded by a security detail carrying machine guns. The rise of religious extremists since the fall of Muammar Qaddafi has made it dangerous for women to even practice Libya’s favorite sport.

...

The popular cleric Salim Jabar said in a televised sermon last month that female footballers had “soiled the honor of their families with the filth of nudity and shamelessness.” The Ansar al-Sharia militia demanded the team not play a match July 24 in Berlin because it “could lead to unforgiveable things.”

The struggles of the team mirror what all Libyan women are confronting, said Hadia Gana, a graphics designer in Tripoli. “It’s about control,” she said. “Control of women by men.”

...

Members of the government-funded soccer team dress conservatively. Their blue tracksuits provide cover from ankle to neck; more than half of them conceal their hair with hijabs approved by the International Federation of Association Football, soccer’s governing body.

What female athletes wear isn’t what upsets extremists, said Sonja Kluemper, one the founders of Discover Football, a nonprofit that sponsors annual tournaments in Berlin for female soccer teams from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia and the Palestinian territories.

“Football challenges gender roles,” she said. “It’s not about sports. It’s a political issue.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-18/female-footballers-covered-head-to-toe-inflame-islamists.html

Uh OH you just headed down a slippery slope to the ban hammer

[GandD 5,966]

Any religion pushed to the extreme is bad.

Word.

I still prefer this though:

Any religion is bad.

[mota bhai 2,675]

Any religion pushed to the extreme is bad.

Where did you get the idea that religion is being pushed to the extreme here?

[Jacque67 7,328]

In the end, members of the Libyan womens soccer team decided they wouldnt pose for an official photograph. They talked about standing with their backs to the camera and concluded it would just be too risky.

They train in different venues every week, with addresses shared at the last minute by phone messages and texts. As they ran drills recently in Tripoli, they were guarded by a security detail carrying machine guns. The rise of religious extremists since the fall of Muammar Qaddafi has made it dangerous for women to even practice Libyas favorite sport.

...

The popular cleric Salim Jabar said in a televised sermon last month that female footballers had soiled the honor of their families with the filth of nudity and shamelessness. The Ansar al-Sharia militia demanded the team not play a match July 24 in Berlin because it could lead to unforgiveable things.

The struggles of the team mirror what all Libyan women are confronting, said Hadia Gana, a graphics designer in Tripoli. Its about control, she said. Control of women by men.

...

Members of the government-funded soccer team dress conservatively. Their blue tracksuits provide cover from ankle to neck; more than half of them conceal their hair with hijabs approved by the International Federation of Association Football, soccers governing body.

What female athletes wear isnt what upsets extremists, said Sonja Kluemper, one the founders of Discover Football, a nonprofit that sponsors annual tournaments in Berlin for female soccer teams from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia and the Palestinian territories.

Football challenges gender roles, she said. Its not about sports. Its a political issue.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-18/female-footballers-covered-head-to-toe-inflame-islamists.html

Good for them. They didn't want Gary to pretend they were his wife!