Muslim teen disqualified from cross country race for wearing a hijab

A Muslim high school student from Ohio was disqualified from a cross country race earlier this month for wearing a hijab. The 16-year-old, Noor Alexandria Abukaram, posted about the surprise disqualification via her cousin's Facebook on Wednesday.

Officials at the race were checking the team's uniforms and took issue with one runner's shorts that did not match the rest of the team's, Abukaram writes. The official allowed this teammate to change her shorts and compete. "Immediately, I began to wonder if they were going to call on me next since I was wearing all black pants and hijab," she writes. 

"I have been a student athlete my entire life, and every time we compete, the thought crosses my mind during uniform checks," the post continues. "At this point, the girl on my team changed her shorts and I was relieved that they had not said anything to me."

However, Abukaram began to fear something was wrong when she saw her coach speaking with officials. She ran anyway, and photos show her wearing a Nike athletic hijab during the race. But after the race, she realized her time was not up on the board. 

"At this point, I'm confused and was confident that this was a mistake so I walk over to the rest of my team and say to them, 'Hey guys my name isn't on the list.' They all stared at me blankly and finally they said, 'you got disqualified,'" she writes.

She soon learned she had been disqualified because of her hijab. "Immediately my heart drops, I become nauseous and feel like I got punched in the gut," she wrote. "This is something that I had always feared which has now become a reality. I just walked away and my teammates didn't say anything else."

The teen said she began crying to her dad on the phone, feeling "humiliated, disappointed, rejected and in denial." Abukaram's coach later explained that in order to race with her hijab on, she needed to fill out a waiver ahead of the competition. "He assured me that he will get this waiver signed and I will race at the regional invitational the following weekend which is this coming weekend," she wrote.

Abukaram said she has been running for Sylvania Northview High School the whole season and officials have never mentioned a uniform violation or need for a waiver. Her coach did learn of the disqualification at check-in before the race, but did not want to disrespect her religious views, so he did not ask her to remove her hijab, a rep for the school confirmed to CBS News.

Abukaram feels the race official did not give her the same respect he gave her teammate, letting her know of the violation before the race and giving her a chance to fix it.

"I wasn't given the chance to explain myself to them because they didn't have the decency to tell me what the issue was," she wrote. "I feel like my rights as an athlete were violated this weekend because this rule does NOT exist in writing. I should not have to get a waiver signed and approved by OSAA to allow me to race due to my religious head covering. Hijabs are not specifically prohibited by OSAA rulings."

OHSAA 2019 Cross Country Manual does mention that "religious and medical alert medals are now legal," however, "a competitor who requires an exception to the uniform rules because of religious restrictions or otherwise, must submit a request for a variance from the OHSAA via e-mail."

"If the variance is granted, a written, signed approval of the variance must be presented to the referee prior to competition," the policy continues. 

In a statement to CBS News, OHSAA said cross country runners may participate while wearing religious headwear, provided they have obtained a waiver and submit it to the head official before the race. 

"The official was simply enforcing this rule since a waiver had not been submitted," OHSAA's statement reads. "After the race, the OHSAA communicated with the school, which then submitted a waiver request. The request was approved immediately, which will permit the student-athlete to compete this weekend at regional competition."

OHSAA said it is looking into this regulation and may "modify it in the future, so that religious headwear does not require a waiver," the statement reads.

The Sylvania Northview High School coaching staff has been in contact with OHSAA to ensure Abukaram is now eligible to run with her hijab, and she will be competing in a race this coming weekend, a rep for the school confirmed to CBS News.