BFI condemns FIBA's patka stand

The Basketball Federation of India (BFI) Thursday strongly condemned the action of world body FIBA's technical commission against Sikh player Anmol Singh for playing with a turban.

The BFI in a statement also asked FIBA to stop discriminating against Sikh athletes representing India at international levels.

Anmol was forced to remove his patka Wednesday during the 23rd FIBA Asia U-18 Championship for Men in Doha that India won 73-64 against Malaysia.

"The FIBA Commissioner who was assigned to supervise the match initially had no objection and allowed Anmol Singh to play in the first quarter of the game with his patka, which is a religious right of the Sikh community. But when Anmol re-entered the court in the second quarter, he was told to remove his patka, which caused humiliation to the player and affected the performance of the team in that particular match," said BFI in a statement.

"The basketball rule says that player shall not wear equipment or object that may cause injury to other players while playing. The patka is made of thin cloth which does not cause injury to anybody, as Sikh athletes are wearing in other team games. We are surprised that why this discrimination by FIBA Asia is being repeatedly imposed on Indian Sikh athletes representing the country at international level," the statement added.