Jumu’ah mubarak! The Friday Fill-in is The Athletic Ummah’s weekly news roundup. If you have a story or athlete you’d like to pitch for it, email us at TheAthleticUmmah@gmail.com.
Warning: This Friday Fill-in covers sexual assault and may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it.
The Headlines
Netflix to live stream WWE Raw starting 2025: Streaming giant Netflix have taken a big step into live sporting events with a $5b USD deal that would make it the exclusive home of WWE’s Raw from Jan. 2025 onward. The 10-year deal will put Raw exclusively on the streaming platform in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Latin America, among other territories. Canadian-Syrian Rami Sebei, who wrestles under the ring name Sami Zayn, currently performs in Raw.
Spanish Grand Prix to move from Barcelona to Madrid in 2026: Madrid will replace Barcelona as the host of the Spanish Grand Prix from 2026 to 2035, Formula 1 (F1) announced earlier this week. The race will be run on an all-new 5.47 km circuit in the Spanish capital, incorporating street and non-street sections. It will replace the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which has held the F1 race since its construction in 1991.
FIFA Arab Cup to return next year, says Qatar sports minister: Qatar’s Minister of Sports and Youth Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al-Thani has announced that the FIFA Arab Cup, a football competition contested by members of the Union of Arab Football Associations, will be organized again for 2025. “The tournament will be held next year, God willing, after completing some arrangements, indicating that the date, location, and hosting mechanism in the future will be announced soon,” he said at a press conference. Qatar hosted the last edition of the competition in 2021 — the first to be officially organized by FIFA.
NHL expansion into Utah, U.S., requested: Smith Entertainment Group (SEG) has requested the National Hockey League (NHL) initiate an expansion process to bring a professional ice hockey team to Utah. The group, which also owns the NBA’s Utah Jazz, said they have the immediate ability to bring an NHL team to Utah. The league said they appreciate the interest expressed by the group, that “Utah is a promising market, and we look forward to continuing our discussions.” The league last expanded in 2021 when the Seattle Kraken was founded.
What You Might’ve Missed
This week has been a heavy week for ice hockey fans and especially sexual assault survivors.
On Wednesday, five members of Canada’s 2018 world junior ice hockey team were told to surrender themselves to police in London, Canada. According to the Globe and Mail report, they were told so to face sexual assault charges in a high-profile case that’s embroiled Hockey Canada in controversy.
The players have been given until later next week to present themselves to investigators to face charges of sexual assault, according to the Globe and Mail’s sources. The players have not yet been formally charged nor have they been identified.
Police said they will not share information about the investigation at this time, but that the force will hold a press conference on Monday, Feb. 5.
The players in question are alleged to have sexually assaulted a woman in a hotel room in London after a Hockey Canada gala in 2018. A woman identified in court documents as E.M. told police she was sexually assaulted by as many as eight hockey players over several hours.
In 2022, the alleged victim sued eight unnamed players, Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League for more than $3.5m CAD at the Ontario Superior Court.
E.M.’s statement of claim alleged the woman, who was 20 at the time, met the players when the World Juniors champions were in London for the Hockey Canada Foundation Gala and Golf event.
After engaging in intimate activities with one of the players, the statement of claim alleged that at some point, the player allowed seven others to enter the room without her “knowledge or consent.” Over several hours, according to the statement of claim, the group of hockey players engaged in a series of degrading intimate acts.
The young woman reported that at some points she was crying and tried to leave the room, but was “directed, manipulated and intimidated into remaining,” the statement of claim said.
The claim said that after the alleged sexual assault ended, the players filmed the young woman, instructed her to say she was sober and told her to shower.
The statement of claim also alleged the players pressured the young woman not to report the allegations or co-operate with a police investigation.
None of the allegations have been proven in court, but Hockey Canada settled E.M.’s lawsuit a month after it was filed in 2022, according to TSN.
But the news of that lawsuit ignited a firestorm that saw Hockey Canada executives grilled by Canadian Members of Parliament in a committee meeting, the freezing of Hockey Canada’s federal funding, and the severance of ties by several of the organization’s sponsors (some of whom reinstated their partnerships last month.)
The incident was first reported to London police when it allegedly occurred in 2018, but no charges were laid then.
The police re-opened their investigation in 2022 and sought warrants to search the hotel room where the alleged assault occurred and to collect information from law firms hired by Hockey Canada to conduct their own investigations. The investigation was later criticized for its lengthy timeline at parliamentary hearings in June 2023.
Amid the latest news, Halifax Regional Police said that an investigation into separate sexual assault allegations against members of Canada’s 2003 world junior ice hockey team is also ongoing.
This story has been a hugely important and ongoing one in Canada since coming to light in 2022, and it’s one that I think has pulled back the curtain and revealed just how perverse and shocking competitive youth sports locker rooms can be.
These allegations, along with other stories about sexual assault and hazing have made a lot of parents that I’ve spoken to concerned about their children’s safety in competitive youth sports.
As hard of a story as this has been to follow as a journalist though, this week, I’m just thinking about the alleged victim and all victims of sexual assault, both in sport and outside of it.
I’m also thinking about the survivors in the Muslim community, who may feel they have to keep quiet to protect their family’s “honour” or to make themselves “presentable” to a potential spouse. I don’t know what to say to help them through the trauma and difficulty, but I pray that their abusers are brought to justice, whether it’s in this world by the legal system or in the hereafter in the court of Allah (s.w.t), the hearer of cries and the comforter of damaged hearts.
Support is available for anyone who has been sexually assaulted. If you’re in Canada, you can access crisis lines and local support services through this Government of Canada website or the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.
Muslimah Athlete of the Week
Since launching The Athletic Ummah in late Oct. 2023, we’ve tried to commend as many athletes for backing the Palestinian cause as possible, from footballers who’ve voiced their support for Palestine to fans coming together to make a Palestinian kid’s dream come true.
This week is no different as we’re spotlighting Rahaf Khatib, a Syrian-American runner who recently made one of the strongest pro-Palestinian statements we’ve seen any athlete make.
Khatib, who came to the United States in 1983, has been the face of Muslim runners for years — literally. In Oct. 2016, she became the first hijabi to star on the cover of Women’s Running magazine. She’s run several triathlons and marathons, from Boston to New York, and she’s shined a light on the sporting potential of Muslim women, especially hijab-wearing women.
But earlier this week, Khatib represented the Muslim community and the values of our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HF) not on the track but in the city council.
On Monday, Jan. 22, Farmington Hills, U.S., held its first city council meeting since Jan. 8, and as part of the public comment section of the meeting, many Muslim and Palestinian community members of the city spoke to the council about the ongoing atrocities being committed by Israel in Gaza.
Khatib, who lives in Farmington Hills with her husband and children, was one of the people who spoke. In a speech that lasted just over two minutes, Khatib talked about the intersection of sports and humanitarian causes, and her stance against systematic oppression and injustice.
One of the key moments from her speech was her experience in a 2023 marathon in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank. There, she met a Palestinian marathoner named Mohammad Al Assai, whose dream to race globally was hindered by his status as a refugee in his own country.
“I was floored to learn that Mohammad was tragically detained by Israeli forces in April, an unjust action that deeply affected me,” she told the city council.
“My friend Mohammad is amongst thousands who suffer imprisonment without a just cause or a just trial.”
As part of her speech, Khatib also urged the city council to pass a ceasefire resolution — a call we’ve rarely heard from athletes based in the West.
“Cities, counties, schools, businesses and organizations across Michigan and the U.S. have recognized the need for this action,” she said. “Farmington Hills has the opportunity to join this call for justice and humanity.”
She ended her speech by imploring the council to not be bystanders in the ongoing conflict and to pass a ceasefire resolution, “for Mohammad, for humanity, and for the ethical use of our tax dollars.”
“It’s a step towards justice and a testament to our beautiful and diverse city of Farmington Hills,” she concluded.
Although Khatib wasn’t the only person to give a speech in support of Palestine at the city council, I think it’s worth highlighting her segment because it is still quite rare — especially in North America — to see an athlete be so vocal in their support for Palestinians and a ceasefire. It’s a breath of fresh air though; we need more champions like Khatib who aren’t afraid to use their platform to back the oppressed in the face of injustice, even if it could negatively impact their athletic career.
For her courage and articulate speech, Khatib is our Muslimah Athlete of the Week.
Headline image credit: nojhl.com
[…] Sarah and I have done our best to highlight the different ways athletes — professional and amateur — have supported the Palestinian cause. But one thing we noticed while covering this ongoing […]