Chess row as top players ordered to wear hijabs
TOP women chess players are threatening to boycott the world championship in Iran because they will be forced to wear hijabs.
Female grandmasters will risk arrest if they do not cover up in the Middle Eastern country, which is due to host the knockout tournament next year.
The World Chess Federation, known by its French acronym Fide, has been accused of failing to stand up for women’s rights after telling players to accept the laws and respect ‘cultural differences’, The Telegraph reported. US women’s champion Nazi Paikidze said: ‘It is absolutely unacceptable to host one of the most important women’s tournaments in a venue where, to this day, women are forced to cover up with a hijab.
‘I understand and respect cultural differences. But failing to comply can lead to imprisonment and women’s rights are being severely restricted in general. It does not feel safe for women from around the world to play here.’
She added: ‘If the situation remains unchanged, I will most certainly not participate in this event.’
The headscarves have been mandatory for women in Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
The regulation is enforced by the country’s ‘morality police’ and any woman found not wearing a hijab in public faces arrest, a fine or public reprimand. The UK government warns women travelling to Iran of the ‘strictly enforced’ dress code and says they must cover their heads with a scarf in public and wear trousers or long skirts.
Former pan-American champion Carla Heredia, from Ecuador, said: ‘No institution, no government, nor a women’s world chess championship, should force women to wear or to take out a hijab. This violates all what sports means. Sport should be free of discrimination by sex, religion and sexual orientation.’
But US grandmaster Susan Polgar, chairman of Fide’s Commission for Women’s Chess, said the players need to respect ‘cultural differences’.
‘When I visit different places with different cultures, I like to show my respect by dressing up in their traditional style of clothing,’ she said. ‘No one asked me to do it. I just do it out of respect.
‘I personally would have no issues with wearing a headscarf … I cannot speak on behalf of others but from my personal conversations with various players in the past year, they had no real issues with it.’
Fide did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Mail.
At a smaller chess grand prix event in the Iranian capital Tehran in February, female players were required to wear a hijab.
It is believed a number of players were angry about the rule.
Images of competitors, many from non-Muslim countries, wearing the hijab were posted on Fide’s website.