The Football Association has apologized to Muslim footballer Iqra Ismail after a referee barred her from playing a match for refusing to wear shorts due to her religious beliefs.
British-born Somali player and coach Ismail was set to play for United Dragons as a half-time substitute in a Greater London Women’s Football League (GLWFC) match against Tower Hamlets FC on Monday.
On Instagram, Iqra shared that GLWFC prevented her from playing, stating, “I was told that I was not allowed to play football because of my religious beliefs. Yes, you heard that correctly, in 2024.”
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She continued: “The Greater London Women’s Football League have decided to stop me from playing because I refuse to wear shorts with my playing kit.”
The FA has since apologized to Iqra and confirmed that she will be allowed to wear tracksuit bottoms in her next match, according to Sky Sports.
“I’ve been playing in this league for almost five years now wearing tracksuit bottoms and every year, they’ve made it more and more difficult for women like me to play.
“Now this year, they’ve drawn the line and banned me from playing until I compromise my beliefs.
“The Middlesex FA referee for yesterday’s game said that the league had told him strictly not to allow women like me to wear tracksuit bottoms regardless of the colour or if it matches our kits or not.
“If we do not wear shorts, we cannot play. That is what I was told yesterday. So, of course, I stood by my principles, and that meant yesterday, I was not allowed to kick a ball.
“At this level, the priority should be making football accessible, and the Greater London Women’s Football League have done the exact opposite.
“They asked me why women’s football lacks diversity and why it’s difficult to find women who look like me in the competitive game. Things like this are the reason.
“Yesterday, I was so angry and frustrated literally to the point of tears and I’ve genuinely never felt that isolated, but my responsibility is to advocate for women like me, so these things can’t happen, because they can’t happen.”
A spokesperson from GLWFL told MailOnline: “The Greater London Women’s Football League is fully committed to ensuring that football is an inclusive and welcoming environment for everybody. We are keen to engage positively with Iqra as we do with all our members.
“We have also been liaising with the relevant County FAs and The FA, to better understand the detail of the guidance regarding what women and girls can wear when playing football, that ensures their faith or religious beliefs are not compromised.
“It was our understanding that players were permitted to wear tights or tracksuit bottoms to cover their legs but that they would also have to wear shorts on top, to adhere to club colours regulations. It was this requirement that our referee was seeking to adhere to this weekend.
“However, we have since been made aware that shorts on top of tracksuits or tights are not required and that the match official should accommodate this to ensure the players feel as comfortable as possible.
“We will be providing this updated guidance to all our match officials and members and want to ensure everyone, including Iqra, that we fully support the principle that players should wear clothing that ensures their faith and/or religious beliefs are not compromised.”
