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Referee 'told Sikh boy to remove
turban'
Family and anti-racist groups call on the Irish FA to investigate
schoolboy football match incident
 LONDON: Football
authorities in Dublin are investigating allegations that a referee
tried to force a Sikh boy to take off his turban during a schoolboy
match.
The family of
Karpreet Singh and anti-racist campaigners have contacted the
Football Association of Ireland over the alleged incident at
Ashbourne in Co Meath a fortnight ago, which ended with the
12-year-old refusing to play in the second half.
The FAI has told
Sport Against Racism
Ireland and the
Singh family they will meet them in the new year to discuss claims
that the referee ordered the boy to remove his turban, then refused
to talk to Karpreet's father after the game about his alleged
remarks. Surinder Singh said that his anger over the alleged
incident was compounded by what he claims was the referee's
insensitivity when the game was over.
'Before the
match the referee checked the two teams' boots and strips and the
game began. He said nothing about anyone wearing anything on their
heads,' he said. 'Then, 10 minutes into the match, he went over to
my son and told him to remove the "headgear". Karpreet told the
referee he couldn't take his turban off, and again the ref said to
him to take the "headgear" off.
'The match went
on and I could see that Karpreet was upset by the incident. When the
team went in for half-time, Karpreet told his coach he didn't want
to play in the second half. I knew he wasn't up for it. The whole
thing had disturbed him and this is a boy who loves football.'
According to
Surinder Singh, a previous coach of Hillcrest Soccer club, his son's
team, tried to speak to the referee about his remarks.
'Instead of
listening, the ref told the ex-coach to get off the pitch,' he
claimed. 'I waited until the match was over and went over to the
referee to talk about what he had said to my son. This man turned
around and said "I don't have to talk to you!", and walked off
without speaking to me. When I followed him he said: "Get away from
me!" I couldn't believe how rude he was.'
Surinder Singh
said the alleged incident was all the more shocking because, having
been in
Ireland for 24 years, he has never encountered any hostility. 'I try
to make my kids integrate into Irish society. My eight-year-old
daughter Japleen Kaur plays camogie for our local GAA club
Sarsfields. Karpreet is dedicated to his soccer team and loves
playing football. We never expected an attitude like that on the
pitch, especially not from the referee.'
His son is a
Manchester United fan who dreams of playing at Old Trafford. The
schoolboy said he was 'very upset' by the alleged attitude of the
referee but vowed to play on for his club. 'I love playing for the
team and after the match my mates were brilliant. They all said they
supported my decision not to take off my turban, which is so
important to our religion.'
Karpreet said he
would 'feel very nervous' now when playing matches while wearing his
turban. 'I hope nobody else has an attitude like that again,' he
said.
Sport Against
Racism
Ireland said it requested a meeting with the FAI over the alleged
incident last week, but was told that it would have to wait until
January.
'We would hope
that referees who behave like that should be given the red card,'
said Frank Buckley, SARI's co-founder. 'The FAI have signed up to 10
Uefa principles in encouraging social and religious integration in
football. One of those principles concerns making referees and
officials aware of players and supporters from different ethnic and
religious backgrounds.
'Have referees
officiating at games in all levels, including schoolboy soccer, been
made aware of this? Not only does the FAI needs to get to the bottom
of this incident, they also have to train up all our referees and
officials in anti-racist, anti-sectarian policies.'
The FAI will not
make any comment about the Singh family's allegations until they
have held a meeting with them, the club and the schoolboy soccer
league.
To combat racism
and xenophobia as well as encourage immigrants to integrate better,
SARI runs leagues involving teams from a variety of ethnic
communities who have settled in the republic. (Courtesy The Observor)
17 December
2008
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