Bob CollinsA week or so after USA Boxing decided it would allow Oakdale boxer Amaiya Zafar to box in a sanctioned bout wearing a hijab, basketball’s governing authority has seen the light, too.
FIBA, the International Basketball Federation, has approved a proposal allowing players to wear “headgear.”
The move comes nearly three years after FIBA started looking at the idea, BuzzFeed reports.
“Lifting the ban will really change history by giving women who already play the chance to compete professionally in leagues like the WNBA,” said basketball player Asma Elbadawi, who helped lead the movement.
“And young Muslim girls role models to look up to that they can identify with and feel like you know she did it so I can do it too.”
The movement heavily involved social media under the hashtag #FIBAAllowHijab.
