Soccer fans in Sweden discovered an ingenious way to get around rules prohibiting the covering of faces.
Many thanks to Ava Lon for translating this article from the Polish news site wMeritum.pl:
Swedish soccer fans mocked political correctness. They were deprived of balaclavas and masks, so they put on a… legal Muslim garment
April 4, 2017
An unusual situation occurred in the Swedish Premier League during a match between AIK Stockholm and Hacken. AIK fans decided to protest in a meaningful manner against the ban on covering their faces in the stands.
On March 1 Sweden introduced a ban on the covering of faces by fans who decide to come to a sporting event. So fans cannot wear the balaclavas and masks that used to be very popular until now, especially in the “ultras” part of the stadium.
The Swedish authorities say the ban is intended to solve the problem of hooliganism in the stands. Violent fans with masked faces often hoped for impunity.
Sweden would not be Sweden, however, if the new law didn’t have an absurd exception to the rule. It appears that the prohibition of covering the face does not apply… to the followers of Islam. One can easily enter the stadium while wearing the elements of Muslim clothing such as the niqab.
AIK Stockholm fans, decided to exploit that exception to the rule, and during the match of the Swedish Hacken League wore face-covering masks for Muslim women. Fans also presented a banner, which was addressed to Anders Ygeman, the Minister of the Interior. “Ultras AIK walk in masks for religious reasons. Freedom for the Ultras! Thanks to Ygeman for this exception,” they wrote.
Too funny!!! And very stoooopid!!
When will private committees in Sweden send forth neighborhood patrols of armed antimuslim men and women dressed in niqabs?
In a world closer to ideal, it would be strictly illegal to have any sort of identity-hiding mask in public. In anti-Trump demonstrations in the US, like in Berkeley, the violent protesters wore masks while they vandalized. If the administration had not been supportive of the hooliganism, they would have taken the wearing of a mask as ipso facto grounds for arrest on the spot.
If there is one thing that legislators all hate, it is having their at time absurd laws thrown back in their faces. So on that score, well done to those who can appreciate the imposition of absurd laws and choose to react to them.