XPost: 24hoursupport.helpdesk, alt.politics.scorched-earth, uk.politics.misc   
   XPost: uk.legal, alt.politics.uk   
   From: burfordTjustice@tues.uk   
      
   Soccer hooligans don niqabs to sidestep ban on masks   
      
   Fans exploit religious exemption as Sweden outlaws face coverings in   
   effort to crack down on football violence   
      
   group of Swedish soccer fans wore Muslim head coverings to a match on Sunday   
   in order to get around a new law banning masks at matches to crack down on   
   violence.    
      
   The new legislation, spearheaded by Interior Minister Anders Ygeman, requires   
   everyone to show their faces during soccer matches and went into effect on   
   March 1. However, exceptions to the law are made for officials such a police   
   or fire fighters in the    
   line of duty, and for those covering their faces for religious reasons.     
      
      
   A group of hard-core fans from AIK took advantage of the loophole and attended   
   the first game of the season, against Häcken, wearing niqab, a black   
   full-face covering worn by some Muslim women.   
      
   The fans, known as ultras, made their message clear by holding up a banner   
   which read, “AIK’s ultras mean well, we’re now wearing masks for   
   religious reasons,” Swedish news site The Local reported.   
      
   The fans also made sure to credit the interior minister for the new way to   
   cover their faces, as the banner also said, “Freedom for ultras is the goal,   
   thanks Ygeman for the loophole.”   
      
   The minister, who supports a rival club, took the move in good humor, telling   
   the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that, “In all honesty, I thought the   
   banner was quite funny. It shows that AIK fans have a bit of humor,” The   
   Local reported.   
      
   The mask ban was a response to increasing violence in Swedish soccer,   
   including an August 2016 match which was abandoned after a masked fan ran onto   
   the pitch and assaulted a player   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)