Muslim boys school refuses to play football against team with two girls on it

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Carla set she was ‘upset’ by the incident (Picture: City News)

A school football match was blighted recently after a team from a Muslim boys school refused to play against a team with girls on it.

Due to there not being a girls football team at Robert F Hall Catholic School in Caledon, Canada, Carla Briscoe and another girl both play on the boys team, which is allowed in their school league.

During a recent match against the nearby ISNA Private Islamic High School, in which Carla’s team was winning 3-1, the opposing team told the referee at half time that they would have to forfeit as some of the students felt uncomfortable playing the sport with a girl.

Knowing their team needed a certain amount of goals to progress in the tournament, and not wanting to let their team mates down, Carla and the other female player agreed to bow out of the game, however the incident left them with some bitter feelings.

Essa Abdool-Karim, the coach from the ISNA Private Islamic High School (Picture: City News)

‘I was upset, I just didn’t feel like I had finally made the progress to be on the team,’ Carla told City News.

She added that she ‘understands their culture’, however she hopes other girls aren’t dissuaded from playing sports due to this incident.

Carla’s team dominated by winning 6-1, however this means both teams will now advance into the next round and could potentially meet each-other on the field again.

Essa Abdool-Karim, the coach from the ISNA Private Islamic High School, claims they were unaware that girls were allowed to play in the league, despite it being clearly stipulated in the rules.

He said: ‘Free mixing is generally something we do not do, more so out of respect than anything.’

The school board are expected to make new rules to treat religious and gender conflicts soon to avoid a similar situation occurring should the two teams play each other again.

http://metro.co.uk/2015/05/29/muslim-boys-school-refuses-to-play-football-against-team-with-two-girls-on-it-5221384/