Thread: Images on Soccer Balls Offend Muslims in S. Africa

Images on Soccer Balls Offend Muslim Sensibilities

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

By Patrick Goodenough, International Editor


Images from a Saudi flag on a soccer ball are drawing complaints from Muslims in South Africa, host of the 2010 World Cup.(CNSNews.com) – An Islamic clerics’ group in South Africa is protesting the appearance of Koranic text in advertising and promotional merchandise for the soccer World Cup, which the country is hosting in 2010.

At issue are soccer balls featuring images of flags of the world, including those of Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq. All three flags include words from the Koran.

The Council of Muslim Theologians, based in Johannesburg, said in a statement that the use of text which Muslims consider sacred “has the potential of offending adherents of the Islamic faith.â€

[quote]Two years earlier, the owner of Walls ice cream, Unilever, was forced to scrap a new logo for use in the Middle East after Muslims in Gulf states said the symbol – a pair of intertwining red and yellow hearts – looked like the word “Allahâ€