All religious head coverings to be allowed in international karate competitions

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Men competing in international karate competitions will soon be able to wear their religious head coverings.

It’s thanks to a new rule change, and there’s a B.C. connection behind the move.

“They made a rule change several years ago to allow female athletes to wear head coverings for religious reasons, and this was mostly for women or female Muslim athletes who often wear head coverings for their religions,” explains Craig Vokey with Karate Canada.

However, the same was never really considered for men, he adds.

“In 2016, a Sikh athlete in British Columbia [Jai Sanghera] brought this to our attention that really this was affecting people’s ability internationally,” he says. “Nationally we didn’t care, we always allowed anyone to do that if they so desired, but internationally the rules were very specific that women could only wear this head wear.”

(Courtesy Burnaby Karate Academy via Facebook)

He says this was true not just in karate, but in many other sports like international basketball or FIFA.

Those federations, Vokey notes, have also changed their rules over the past couple of rules. The petition for the rule change within international karate was presented and Vokey says he’s pleased the request was accepted.

“As of January 1st, they will remove the word ‘female’ and any karate athlete can wear a head covering if they so desire.”

Vokey admits this was never really considered before Sanghera brought the issue to the body’s attention, saying no one had ever really mentioned it.

Because of that, he says it’s hard to fault the federation for not making this change sooner.

“I actually think they were very helpful and very understanding, and I know that at the Rules Commission, there was no opposition,” Vokey tells NEWS 1130. “The idea of inclusion is very important for all of us, especially for the Olympic movement and the world federation; it was a no-brainer. But yes, someone had to bring it forward, and apparently the only country that was willing to do that was ours.”

Vokey calls this a “very Canadian issue,” citing this is a country that celebrates and respects diversity.

“I commend Karate Canada for the leadership role it played with the World Karate Federation, which resulted in new rules that will allow all athletes to wear a head covering during competition for religious reasons,” Minister of Science and Sport Kirsty Duncan said. “This leadership helps strengthen Canada’s position on inclusion and equality in sport.”

The head covering Sikh members will be allowed to wear will be a particular type of covering, which is a lot tighter. This is because the sport requires a lot of movement, and Vokey says it’s been adapted for the sport.

-With files from Sonia Aslam