Female Chess Players Must Wear Hijab for World Championship in Iran
"This violates all what sports means. Sport should be free of discrimination by sex, religion and sexual orientation."
9.30.2016
15
Within hours of Iran being revealed as its host country, the women's world chess championship became embroiled in controversy when players realized they would be required to wear the hijaab or face arrest, according to theUK Telegraph.
Hijabs, of course, have been mandatory for women in Iran ever since the repressive Islamic Revolution of 1979. Any woman found by the "morality police" to be without one in public faces arrest, a fine, or a public admonishment, which likely will include a beating.
Susan Polgar, the chair of Fide's Commission for Women's Chess, the game's governing body, called on participants to respect “cultural differences” and to accept these regulations:
"I have traveled to nearly 60 countries. When I visited different places with different cultures, I like to show my respect by dressing up in their traditional style of clothing. No one asked me to do it. I just do it out of respect. I personally would have no issues with wearing a head scarf as long as it is the same to all players. I believe the organizers provided beautiful choices for past participants of Women's Grand Prix.
"I cannot speak on behalf of others but from my personal conversations with various players in the past year, they had no real issues with it. If any player has a problem with it, she can and should voice her opinion to the Commission for Women's Chess or Fide and we can address it in our next meeting."
Despite her dismissive and shameful declaration of dhimmitude, grandmasters are threatening to boycott the event and accused Fide of failing to stand up for women's rights. Nazi Paikidze, the U.S. women's champion, said,
"It is absolutely unacceptable to host one of the most important women's tournaments in a venue where, to this day, women are forced to cover up with a hijab.I understand and respect cultural differences. But, failing to comply can lead to imprisonment and women's rights are being severely restricted in general.
"It does not feel safe for women from around the world to play here. I am honoured and proud to have qualified to represent the United States in the Women’s World Championship. But, if the situation remains unchanged, I will most certainly not participate in this event."
Former Pan American champion Carla Heredia, from Ecuador, added:
Nigel Short, the British former world title contender, said: "There are people from all sorts of backgrounds going to this, there will be atheists, Christians, all sorts of people. If you are deeply Christian why would you want to wear a symbol of Islamic oppression of women?""No institution, no government, nor a Women's World Chess Championship should force women to wear or to take out a hijab. This violates all what sports means. Sport should be free of discrimination by sex, religion and sexual orientation. The obligation to use hijab is one issue, another one is that women can't share room with a male if she is not married to him. So the question remains what would happen if women chess players want to share the room with a male coach or if women chess players want to prepare for the game visiting the coach's room.”
As if the hijab requirement weren't daunting enough, the U.S. State Department has issued a warning to Americans traveling to Iran, saying they risk being imprisoned or kidnapped because of their nationality -- particularly now that the Obama administration has demonstrated to Iran that kidnapping Americans pays.
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