Every Saturday when Ellie suits up for her soccer game, she begs to be allowed to wear something other than the plain white shorts that are part of the uniform. Despite her desire to make a fashion statement on the field, I insist that she wear the regulation shorts like all the other players.

But for 15-year-old Iman Khalil, wearing something different on the soccer field has nothing to do with making a fashion statement. The Florida teen is Muslim and for the past six years has worn her headscarf when playing soccer for the Hernando Heat. At least she did, until last weekend, when a referee insisted that she remove it or not be allowed to play.

"This isn't headgear or anything. It's part of the faith. I don't think it should be a problem that I wear it," she told The Tampa Tribune. A league official agreed with her and overruled the referee during halftime. But the referee, Steve Richardson, still refused to let her play.

"That's the really disappointing thing," said Mike Duke, her team's assistant coach. "He had an opportunity to make it right at that point, and he chose not to. Both teams were screaming for him to let her play. Still, he wouldn't do it." Of course, Iman was upset. But she also was pleasantly surprised with the support she got from her teammates, parents and even the other team. "It was just phenomenal," she said. Even better, her team won the game.

Apparently this referee didn't know the rules as well as he thought he did. The league apologized to Iman and reminded the referees that players are allowed to wear religious articles as long as they don't pose any kind of injury hazard.

The President of the United Soccer Association's executive board, Frank Villaizan, said he was sorry for the incident. "It's a shame," he said. "I don't like politics in sports."