A hijab only poses a "long-shot" risk of injury to a soccer player, experts said Tuesday, as the debate continued over a 14-year-old Calgary girl's head scarf.

Both Stephen Brown, a kinesiology expert at British Columbia's Simon Fraser University, and Maureen Simmonds, director of McGill University's school of physical and occupational therapy, said it wasn't impossible a hijab could injure a player.

But the chances of it leading to any significant injury were remote, they said.

"I don't know what sort of imagination you have to have to see this as a safety risk," said Simmonds, also a former soccer coach.

The Alberta Soccer Association said this week that Safaa Menhem's hijab was too much of a safety risk for her to play, saying it could choke her if another played pulled on it.

On Saturday, a referee told her she couldn't play with her team because of her Muslim head scarf. [Link]