Europe to Basketball Player: Show More Skin or No Game

T-shirt-wearing Toledo star can't compete in championship
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 10, 2011 4:20 AM CDT
Toledo Player Naama Shafir's Dress Request Rejected by European Basketball Authorities
Toledo guard Naama Shafir is seen during the second half of the women's NIT college basketball championship game earlier this year. Toledo beat Southern California 76-68.   (AP Photo/JD Pooley)

University of Toledo basketball star Naama Shafir won't be allowed to compete in the upcoming European women's championship unless she shows more skin, the sport's European governing body has decided. Shafir, a point guard for the Israeli national team and an Orthodox Jew, wears a T-shirt under her jersey in accordance with Jewish modesty rules, and had requested an exemption from uniform rules, AP reports.

"The global rules of the game clearly state that a team must be uniformly dressed, and the rules must always be upheld," said a spokesman for FIBA Europe. The decision means Shafir, 21, will not take part in the tournament, which begins next week. The player— who told FIBA that NCAA officials let her play with a T-shirt in her 3 years with Toledo—says she won't compromise on her beliefs and play with her shoulders bared. (More women's basketball stories.)

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