JERUSALEM (AP) — European basketball’s governing body says it will not make allowances for an Israeli women’s player’s religious observance in the upcoming European championship.
University of Toledo and Israeli national team point guard Naama Shafir is an Orthodox Jew who wears a T-shirt under her jersey for reasons of modesty.
European basketball regulations say all players must wear precisely the same uniform and Munich-based FIBA Europe told The Associated Press early Friday that it would not make an exception.
FIBA Europe spokesman Sakis Kontos said “rules must always be upheld” and the decision is “final.”
The decision means the 21-year-old Shafir cannot compete at the tournament, which opens June 18 in Poland, if she insists on wearing the T-shirt.
