A Muslim father has told of his outrage at being forbidden from watching his daughters compete in a female-only Islamic netball tournament.

The man, who wished not to be named, has two daughters playing a Muslim women's netball tournament at Zayed College For Girls in New Zealand's Auckland.

The father has branded the rule to exclude men from the event as 'segregation' and called for organisers to overrule it, reports NZHerald.

The man has two daughters playing a Muslim women's netball tournament at Zayed College For Girls in New Zealand's Auckland (emblem pictured)

The female-only Islamic netball tournament was played at Zayed College For Girls (pictured)

'When segregation and separation happens based on gender only - and where there is no cultural or religious reason to support it, it needs to be stopped by identifying it for what it is,' the father said.

The tournament, which has been running for 15 years, has always excluded men - including as referees and coaches.

Earlier this year, YMCA's Cameron Pool and Leisure Centre in Auckland partially closed the pools one night a week to give Muslim women the opportunity to learn to swim in private.

This week in Sydney, a council came under fire for erecting a curtain for a ladies-only swimming session to encourage Muslim women to use the pool.

The father said while he understood the swimming pool measure, the netball exclusion was 'far worse.'

'I can understand swimming because they wear different clothes, but netball is netball, women should be able to watch men and men able to watch women ...It is rather sad that it is happening here in New Zealand.'

The decision to ban men from the netball tournament was slammed online

Another Facebook user expressed anger over the incident

The father said while he understood the swimming pool measure, the netball exclusion was 'far worse'

However one of the tournament organisers vowed it would remain exclusively for women to ensure a 'secure' environment.

'We do it in an environment like Zayed College, where there's no men, so if the players wanted to take their [hijab] off and play, they can - it's a secure environment,' said Maz Khan of the Islamic Women's Council of New Zealand

She said no men have raised the issue with them before because they understood the religious reasoning for the rule.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted of the Islamic Women's Council of New Zealand and Zayed College For Girls for comment



