Finland’s football association has begun offering a free “sports hijab” to any player who wants one, in a move designed to attract a greater diversity of players into the sport.
So far, the FA has distributed “dozens” of the headscarves, which are made out of technical, stretchy fabric, Heidi Pihlaja, head of development of women and girls’ football, told AFP.
“In Finland, it’s been really hard to get girls of immigrant backgrounds into football clubs,” Pihlaja said. “So we wanted to start this initiative to welcome everyone, regardless of your religion and whether you want to use a scarf or not.”
“It doesn’t flap around as much as normal and you don’t need to tuck it into your shirt,” 13-year-old Nasro Bahnaan Hulbade told AFP during a training session at her club…
