{"id":132625,"date":"2026-01-21T23:36:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T23:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/132625\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T23:36:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T23:36:12","slug":"greg-abbott-calls-for-cy-fair-isd-to-cut-ties-with-houston-islamic-games-houston-public-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/132625\/","title":{"rendered":"Greg Abbott calls for Cy-Fair ISD to cut ties with Houston Islamic Games \u2013 Houston Public Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\"Cy-Fair<\/a><\/p>\n

Adam Zuvanich\/Houston Public Media<\/p>\n

Pictured is a sign outside the headquarters for Cy-Fair ISD on Sept. 10, 2024, in Cypress, Texas.<\/p>\n

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is calling on Cy-Fair ISD to sever its ties with the 2026 Houston Islamic Games, which he says were scheduled for October at Bridgeland High School. <\/p>\n

In a Wednesday letter to the Houston-area school district, Abbott directed CFISD to terminate any agreements with the Houston Islamic Games. He said the district needed to do so because the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) was allegedly one of the sponsors for the youth athletic competition. In November, Abbott declared<\/a> CAIR \u2014 a nationwide civil rights organization \u2014 to be a foreign terrorist organization and barred the group from purchasing land in Texas.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou cannot invite such dangers through the front doors of our schools,\u201d Abbott said in a news release publicizing his letter. \u201cTexans deserve immediate action to curb the spread of Islamic extremism, and public facilities funded by their tax dollars will not be utilized to host terrorist related groups.\u201d <\/p>\n

Sign up for the Hello, Houston!<\/a> daily newsletter to get local reports like this delivered directly to your inbox.<\/p>\n

CAIR has disputed the Republican governor\u2019s characterization and said its mission is to “enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.” CAIR filed a lawsuit against Abbott<\/a> shortly after his declaration.<\/p>\n

The Islamic Games is a nonprofit organization founded over 35 years ago that “brings together children and athletes of all ages and faiths to compete in more than 15 sports, including basketball, soccer, football, pickleball, cricket, volleyball, tennis and a 5K run,” according to the organization\u2019s website. The Islamic Games did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

In a statement shared by CAIR, the Islamic Games said that while CAIR-New Jersey donated drawstring bags to athletes in 2023, CAIR has never been a sponsor of the games.<\/p>\n

“We want to make clear that we reject the negative and false attacks on them [CAIR],” the Islamic Games said in the statement. “We are deeply concerned that voices have become so hateful that they would target a sporting event for children.”<\/p>\n

Abbott claimed in his letter to Cy-Fair ISD<\/a> leaders that CAIR-New Jersey was previously listed as a sponsor on the 2026 Islamic Games\u2019 website. CAIR-New Jersey was not listed as a sponsor on the event website<\/a> as of Wednesday, when the site noted the games would be held in September or October at a location in Cypress \u201cTBD.\u201d <\/p>\n

According to Abbott, facilities at Cy-Fair ISD\u2019s Bridgeland High School were slated to be used for the Islamic Games.<\/p>\n

Cy-Fair ISD spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. <\/p>\n

In a statement to Houston Public Media, CAIR’s Washington D.C. office said Abbott was false in claiming that CAIR-New Jersey was a sponsor of the Houston games. <\/p>\n

“Children should be off-limits in political games. Period,” a CAIR spokesperson wrote in an email. “Yet Governor Abbott\u2019s hatred of Muslims and his obsession with silencing critics of the Israeli government have now led him to target innocent children scheduled to participate in an athletic sporting event that has occurred for over 30 years in states across America, including Texas.”<\/p>\n

The organization also said that Abbott’s declaration against CAIR is “lawless.”<\/p>\n

“He is the governor of Texas, not the emperor of Texas, and we look forward to reminding him of that in a court of law. God willing,” CAIR said.<\/p>\n

Abbott’s letter to Cy-Fair ISD comes as an Islamic Games event scheduled to take place in Colleyville, located near Fort Worth, was canceled following similar allegations<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Abbott directed Cy-Fair ISD leaders to \u201cpreserve all records and communications concerning this event and confirm with the Office of the Governor within seven days that any negotiations or agreements for the event are terminated.\u201d If district leaders do not comply, Abbott said he would direct the Texas Education Agency to \u201cimmediately seize and uncover any communications district employees may have regarding CAIR, any attempts to conceal CAIR’s involvement, and any agreements or financial statements related to the proposed event. TEA will immediately refer its findings to the Texas Attorney General to pursue legal action.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Adam Zuvanich\/Houston Public Media Pictured is a sign outside the headquarters for Cy-Fair ISD on Sept. 10, 2024,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132626,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56769,30485,20143,163,1182,4872,56,58,57,66,223,287,1968,27],"class_list":{"0":"post-132625","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-2026-houston-islamic-games","9":"tag-council-on-american-islamic-relations","10":"tag-cy-fair-isd","11":"tag-education","12":"tag-education-news","13":"tag-gov-greg-abbott","14":"tag-houston","15":"tag-houston-headlines","16":"tag-houston-news","17":"tag-local","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-politics","20":"tag-religion","21":"tag-texas"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}