ADELAIDE, Australia — Stepping onto the sphere in opposition to South Korea in Morocco’s second Women’s World Cup match, defender Nouhaila Benzina made historical past as the primary participant to put on a hijab whereas competing at a senior-level international match.
A FIFA ban on taking part in in spiritual head coverings in its sanctioned video games for “health and safety reasons” was overturned in 2014 after advocacy from activists, athletes and authorities and soccer officers.
“I have no doubt that more and more women and Muslim girls will look at Benzina and just really be inspired – not just the players, but I think decision makers, coaches, other sports as well,” stated Assmaah Helal, a co-founder of the Muslim Women in Sports Network.
Benzina performs skilled membership soccer for the Association’s Sports of Forces Armed Royal – the eight-time defending champion in Morocco’s prime ladies’s league. She didn’t play in Morocco’s opening 6-0 loss to Germany in Melbourne, and needed to wait six days to lastly get her begin within the Group H recreation in Adelaide.
It was value it. The Atlas Lionesses performed with extra freedom in a day recreation in opposition to South Korea, scoring within the sixth minute and hanging on for a 1-0 win. Benzina performed an necessary position within the line of defense, and picked up a yellow card late within the recreation as South Korea counter-attacked.
Morocco is the primary Arab or North African nation to qualify for the Women’s World Cup.
“We are honored to be the first Arab country to take part in the Women’s World Cup,” Morocco captain Ghizlane Chebbak informed reporters earlier than match, “and we feel that we have to shoulder a big responsibility to give a good image, to show the achievements the Moroccan team has made.”
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Cassidy Hettesheimer contributed to this report from Melbourne, Australia.
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Hettesheimer is a pupil on the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.
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AP Women’s World Cup protection: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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