USA Cheerleaders Forced to Cover Up in 'Nod to Islam'

(By Dan Fogarty, SportsGrid) - USA defeated Iran in basketball today, which comes as a surprise to no one. What may raise a few eyebrows: team dancers were forced to wear long pants in a “nod to Muslim law.”

The Americans were led by two Kevins, Durant and Love, in their 88-51 beat down of the Iranians (oh, if only bubbling political conflict could be resolved on the parquet). In the days leading up to the contest, both teams downplayed the testy relations between their home countries in recent years.

Neither team would feed into the nationalistic fervor that is often such a huge part of international basketball, with the stock excuse for trash-talk being “We’re just here to play basketball.”

One interesting tidbit that arose from the game: the cheerleaders were forced to cover up:

[In] a nod to the Iranian supporters in Istanbul — which included minister of sports Ali Saeedlou earlier in the tournament — dancers were ordered to cover up for their performances during the game. Islam prohibits women from exposing their skin in public, and Iranian officials had turned their backs when the dancers performed in earlier games. The dancers wore long pants Wednesday.