Officials ask Sikh player to play without head gear at Fiba Asia U-18 Championship

NAGPUR, India—Almost a month after Sikh players of the senior Indian basketball team were asked to remove their patka while playing at Wuhan, China, the row has resurfaced at Doha, Qatar.

When team manager Shafique Ahmed raised the issue during the manager’s meeting on the eve of the championship, the technical commission director of Fiba Asia informed him, “Fiba’s central board meeting will be held after this championship. Till then, they are bound to follow the rules.”

In a chat with TOI from Doha, national U-18 coach Jora Singh said, “Anmol was not allowed to play with a turban during our opening game against Qatar when the team was warming up. Today, he was allowed to play with the patka in the first quarter, but later on was told to remove it. Anmol then tied his hair with a small band and continued to play.”

On July 23, TOI had highlighted the discrimination faced by two Sikh basketball players during the Asia Cup in China. The sports ministry and the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) had reacted by notifying the International Olympic Committee (IOC) about it. BFI even raised the issue during the Fiba Asia Congress and also made an official communication to the International Basketball Federation (Fiba). Despite getting a positive response from Fiba World, the BFI, however failed to raise the issue before the U-18 championship.

BFI associate secretary Ashok Rangeen, claims to have raised the issue before the start of the championship. “We have communicated to Fiba Asia that the headgear rules were not properly interpreted in China and hence they should allow Anmol to play at least with a small patka.”