IRELAND’S Sikh association has been inundated with calls and media queries from around the world in the wake of the sports turban controversy, which was first reported in Metro Éireann.
The Irish Sikh Council could not cope with the sheer volume of requests it received from reporters after the story broke of a 12-year-old Sikh boy who was told by a referee to remove his sports turban, or patka, during a soccer match.
At the game in Ashbourne, Co Meath last November, the referee had repeatedly asked the boy to remove his sports turban, arguing that players were not permitted to wear headgear during the match. However, upon speaking to the manager of the young player’s club, the referee allowed the Sikh boy to play.
The incident caused “a great deal of embarrassment” and made the boy nervous, his father Surinder Singh told Metro Éireann.
Following its publication in Metro Éireann, the story was later more widely publicised, including in newspapers outside Ireland. “We got so many phone calls from newspapers and radio stations,” said Satwinder Singh, spokesperson for the Irish Sikh Council. “I couldn’t even reply to all the e-mails I got.”
This is not the first time that a Sikh-related story broken by Metro Éireann has gone global, this newspaper having previously been the first to reveal that the Garda had banned a reservist of the Sikh faith from wearing a turban on duty.
The Irish Sikh Council, which is dealing with the latest incident on behalf of the boy’s father, has already lodged a formal complaint to the FAI and a meeting between the Sikhs and association representatives is due this month.
The group also contacted its sister bodies abroad for advice. Similar incidents have occurred in Canada and Britain, explained Satwinder Singh, but what happened in Ashbourne was the first time the issue of the sports turban had been publicly raised in Ireland.
“There are always issues when people from a new community join a new sport,” said Singh. “The advice given to us by other Sikh councils was to talk to relevant bodies and sort this out, working out new guidelines if necessary. And this is exactly what we’re doing.”
An FAI spokesman said it is investigating the matter, but that it is “happy” for members of the Sikh faith to wear the patka while playing soccer.
“This is the first time an issue of this nature has come to our attention,” said the spokesperson, “and without wanting in any way to pre-judge the outcome of this case before due process is followed, the FAI now intends to develop specific guidelines in relation to the wearing of the patka with the aim of raising awareness of potential sensitivities.”
The FAI appointed an intercultural officer in August 2006 and released its intercultural strategy one year later. The plan gave no guidelines on the issue of patkas or the sports hijabs worn by Muslim girls and women.
