Basketball's governing body FIBA has announced it will allow the hijab to be worn during games as of October 1. 

The new ruling comes after a campaign from British Muslim player Asma Elbadwi who had claimed the previous rule excludes players who follow Islam from taking part.

Asma Elbadwi plays for the Bradford Cobras of the Ladies Leeds Basketball League. As a woman of the Muslim faith she dons a hijab when taking to the court for games, a practice that was previously outlawed by FIBA, but thanks to her campaign, it has been overturned.

“A lot of people when we did the campaign on Facebook and on social media, they kept commenting, saying, 'Why can't they just take the hijab off?' We can take it off if we wanted to, if there was female only environments. But then the whole point is that we want to maintain our modesty and we want to play with people that are not Muslims as well, and at the same time we just want to belong to a sport or a team.” Asma Elbadwi told Sports Scene reporter Mike Fox.

FIBA had previously stated wearing any religious head ware was a safety issue. But since this new decision, Sport manufacturer Nike has already started plans to develop a hijab suitable for action, a concept that was already in the pipeline from UK company Modestly Active.

"There are lots and lots of Muslim women, lots of women that want to cover, have got the ability to play sports, but due to being religious, they are holding back. And they've (Nike) realized that there is a lot of potential and this is why they're producing these sort of products now. But obviously, we're the ones who have come up with the concept and they are jumping on the bandwagon." Kausar Sacranie, founder of the UK company Modestly Active told Sports Scene.