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Hijab not allowed in Canada soccer tourney

OTTAWA, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- A Canadian soccer coach pulled his team from a tournament after a referee wouldn't allow one of its players to compete wearing an Islamic headscarf.

The controversy erupted when Asmahan Mansour, 11, a member of Ottawa's Nepean Hotspurs' second line, stepped onto the field wearing a hijab, The Toronto Sun reported.

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The referee, a Muslim, said the girl couldn't play in the girls-under-12 competition with a headscarf on. Tournament organizers said the prohibition had nothing to do with religion but rather was a matter of safety, the Sun reported.

Unable to change the referee's mind, Nepean Hotspurs coach Louis Maneiro pulled his team from the tournament in Laval, Quebec.

"As a team, we're not coming back here," Maneiro told the Sun.

There was no direct comment about the incident from the Canadian Soccer Association.

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