Nike is all set to launch the “Pro-Hijab” for female Muslim athletes who also wear the traditional headscarf.
The “Pro-Hijab” is scheduled to be launched in Spring 2018. Muslim Female athletes have already run in the Olympics wearing hijabs before and this has spurred the world to acknowledge the need for hijabs in sportswear too.
Sarah Attar completed the 800m at the London Olympics wearing a hijab, and before that Bahraini sprinter, Ruaya al-Ghasra completed a race during the Athens Olympics 2004 and then the Beijing Olympics in 2008 while wearing a hijab.
The Nike “Pro-Hijab” has come about as a direct result of Muslim female athletes telling Nike that they need a hijab that would help them perform better.
When Nike first decided to design and make the Nike “Pro-Hijab” for its female Muslim users, they had to look at the fact that the hijab was not the sole reason why Muslim women were hesitant to participate in sports.
Muslim females wearing the hijab while competing in sporting events has been a hotly contested issue for a long time. Hijabs are often excluded by sporting federations when deciding sportswear for the contestants. This is also the main reason why Muslim women are not seen on the global sporting platforms too much.
