WASHINGTON – A bipartisan group of 39 influential American lawmakers this week asked the International Basketball Federation to end its discrimination against Sikh players and allow them to play while wearing a turban.
Led by Congressmen Joe Crowley, Vice Chair of the Democratic Caucus, and Ami Bera, the only Indian-American lawmaker, 39 Members of the Congress, in a letter to the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), reiterated their support for a change in policy that requires Sikhs and other players to remove their articles of faith, such as turbans, in international competition.
The members also requested an update on FIBA’s review of the policy and on the status of the organisation’s two-year testing phase announced last fall.
Last summer, Crowley and Bera had led 22 Congress members in writing a letter to FIBA’s president, urging the board to end its discriminatory policy against Sikh basketball players who wear turbans, an important article of faith.
The letter followed an outcry over an incident involving two Sikh players who were told by referees that they must remove their turbans if they were to play in FIBA’s Asia Cup.
The players, who have always played in turbans, were told that they were in violation of one of FIBA’s official rules, which states, “Players shall not wear equipment (objects) that may cause injury to other players.”
