BCSA STATEMENT REGARDING LANGLEY LABOR DAY TOURNAMENT

September 8th, 2005 by admin

BCSA STATEMENT REGARDING LANGLEY LABOR DAY TOURNAMENT

Reports from various media outlets have stated that the British Columbia Soccer Association has a regulation prohibiting the wearing of religious headgear during soccer matches. The Association wishes to state that this is categorically incorrect. The British Columbia Soccer Association also wishes to formally state that the use of religious head gear similar to that worn by players at the Langley Labor Day Tournament is not prohibited by our association.

The Association regrets most sincerely the incident which occured in Langley and will be conducting a thorough investigation to ascertain a full understanding of the issue.

The Association does have a regulation requiring member clubs, districts, and leagues to use of FIFA’s Laws of the Game for 11 a-side soccer matches.  The FIFA Laws of the Game have a regulations (Law 4) that prohibit the wearing of any equipment that would be unsafe to the players and officials involved with the match. The British Columbia Soccer Association’s interpretation of this rule is that the wearing of religious head wear similar to that worn at the Langley tournament is not a violation of Law 4. The Laws of the Game also require the Referee to apply his or her own judgement in the application of the laws.

The FIFA Laws of the Game are generally available on most soccer web sites around the world. The Association regrets that media reports have not included the specific regulation that pertain to this issue as the organization believes this would have prevented the mis-information currently being circulated both in the media and within the soccer community.

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