Wednesday, November 23, 2016

A Muslim girl wasn’t allowed to box in a hijab, so her opponent shared victory with her

The Washington Post reports:
Sixteen-year-old Amaiya Zafar was about to put on her gloves Sunday at the Sugar Bert Boxing National Championships in Kissimmee, Fla., when officials called off the impending fight.

Zafar, a devout Muslim from Oakdale, Minn., wears a hijab under her headgear as well as a shirt and leggings under her shorts and top. Such apparel has been deemed a violation of uniform regulations set by the International Boxing Association for reasons USA Boxing executive director Michael Martino called “clearly a safety issue.”

As a result, Zafar was disqualified, and her opponent, Aliyah Charbonier, was declared the winner — though that didn’t quite sit right with Charbonier. So she approached Zafar.

“This girl comes up to me then and puts her belt in my lap and says, ‘This is yours. They disqualified you. You’re the true winner. This is unfair,’ ” Zafar recalled over the phone Tuesday morning. “Then we started hugging each other, and the owner [of the event] came and got me to make sure I got [a belt.]”
No , this isn't a story from The Onion. The struggles of Muslims in a non-Muslim country.