The decision came after school administrators were “made aware” that one of the event’s sponsors, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, was designated a terrorist organization by Gov. Greg Abbott last year, GCISD spokesperson Nicole Lyons said in an email.
But organizers of the Islamic Games said CAIR “has never been, and is not presently, a sponsor, partner, affiliate or supporter” of the sports festival.
“We are deeply concerned that a sporting event for children is being targeted,” Salaudeen Nausrudeen, president of Islamic Games, said in an email to the Report. “It is our hope that better minds prevail.”
Islamic Games officials requested to use the Colleyville Heritage High School to host its Dallas chapter’s gaming event in May, Lyons said. The facility reservation was in negotiation and not yet finalized before district officials learned Monday of CAIR’s alleged sponsorship, she said.
In a news release Wednesday morning, Islamic Games officials announced that the event will still be held this summer but did not specify a location.
Abbott praised GCISD officials for “rightfully” announcing the district ended negotiations with Islamic Games in a letter dated Jan. 21.
Abbott called on the Cypress-Fairbanks schools superintendent and board president to terminate that district’s negotiations for a facility reservation to host the Houston version of the Islamic Games at a local high school, citing CAIR’s alleged sponsorship.
The governor instructed district officials to “immediately preserve all records and communications about the event,” warning that he would otherwise direct the Texas Education Agency to “immediately seize and uncover” any communications between CFISD employees and CAIR.
“Texans 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,” Abbott wrote in the letter.
Colleyville Heritage hosted the Islamic Games in 2024 and 2025, according to social media posts from the organization.
The Islamic Games is North America’s largest Muslim sports and athletic event, according to its website.
The annual event, which takes place in cities across the country, brings together children and athletes of all ages for two days of basketball, soccer, pickleball and other games, Nausrudeen said.
Criticism of the Islamic Games speaks to the politicized nature of the relationship between Texas politicians and Muslim communities, said Mustafaa Carroll, interim executive director of CAIR’s Dallas-Fort Worth chapter.
“Those kids that are trying to just have to play ball together, haven’t done anything to contribute to Islamophobia,” Carroll said. “All they’re doing is living, and that’s the problem. And these people won’t allow us to even live peacefully in this country.”
Confirmation that the event was canceled came about four hours after Keller Mayor Armin Mizani published a statement denouncing the 2026 Islamic Games, specifically highlighting CAIR’s sponsorship. In a press release from his campaign for state office, Mizani called on GCISD trustees to “rectify the situation.”
“I am grateful for the quick and responsive leadership from the GCISD board of trustees who after learning of the event’s sponsor made the decision to cancel,” Mizani said in a statement to the Report on Tuesday. “In Texas, we do not wear rose-colored glasses when it comes to those who have been designated as a terrorist organization by the state or its governor.”
In November, Abbott designated CAIR and another international Islamic group, the Muslim Brotherhood, as “foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations.” CAIR denies those claims, stating on its website the institution “is not and has never been an affiliate, offshoot, chapter, or agent of any foreign movement, organization, political party or government.”
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., CAIR is the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group in the country, according to the nonprofit’s website.
Lyons cited a Texas law prohibiting governmental entities from entering contracts with companies identified as terrorist organizations as grounds for canceling negotiations for the event reservation.
Shannon Braun, president of the GCISD board of trustees, did not return a request for comment Tuesday.
CAIR’s New Jersey chapter was one of more than 100 sponsors listed on the event’s website Monday, according to a snapshot of the page saved by the internet archive site Wayback Machine. CAIR was no longer listed on the event site as of Tuesday afternoon.
Brandon Hall, a Republican member of the State Board of Education who represents parts of Tarrant County including Grapevine and Colleyville, alleged in a Facebook post Monday that the Islamic Games was sponsored by CAIR.
He told the Report on Tuesday evening that “it’s a little bit hard to believe” that CAIR wasn’t originally an event sponsor after he saw the organization listed as such Monday.
“An organization with any ties to someone who’s been designated as a foreign terrorist organization should absolutely not be able to use school facilities, because that’s very concerning,” Hall said.
Nausrudeen said CAIR’s New Jersey chapter made a “one-time, in-kind contribution consisting solely of complimentary drawstring bags, which were distributed to athletes as part of event materials,” around 2023. He said the “isolated contribution” did not “constitute sponsorship, endorsement, or partnership between parties.”
The Islamic Games have had no relationship or engagement with the CAIR New Jersey chapter in any capacity since that time, he added.
Selaedin Maksut, executive director of CAIR’s New Jersey chapter, declined to comment, deferring to Carroll.
Had the event not been sponsored by CAIR, Mizani said, he likely would have had no issue with it.
In response to Nausrudeen’s statement that CAIR was not a sponsor, Mizani wrote via text that GCISD would be “the best source” for confirmation of event sponsors.
“I would assume they would know if they were or not,” Mizani texted.
Hall said he plans to continue investigating the issue to get clarity on CAIR’s alleged sponsorship.
Even if CAIR didn’t sponsor the Islamic Games, Hall said, he would have a problem with the event because the Muslim sports festival “excludes everyone else.”
“I’m not aware of any churches that would exclude somebody based on who they are or what their background is,” Hall said.
In his statement, Nausrudeen wrote that the Islamic Games are open to people of all faiths. The company’s website states that the games are open to “any individual or team regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion.”
Texas lawmakers passed a bill last year allowing public school districts, charter schools and universities to permit religious groups to use their facilities for worship, sermons, services or assemblies.
A school or university can’t be penalized by any state agency, political subdivision or government entity for allowing religious groups to use their facilities after hours, according to the Texas Senate Research Center’s analysis of the bill.
Decisions to deny religiously affiliated groups from using such sites inhibits them “from participating in neutral, publicly available rental processes open to other nonprofit or civic groups — potentially infringing on Free Speech and Free Exercise protections under the First Amendment,” according to the state’s analysis.
Targeting what he describes as the spread of “radical Islam” has been a key focus of Mizani’s campaign as he seeks the Republican nomination for Texas House District 98 in the March 3 primary election.
At the start of the new year, Keller City Council members unanimously approved a resolution reaffirming their commitment to “constitutional governance and equal application of the law” with a resolution originally drafted to reject sharia, the moral code that guides those who practice Islam. The resolution, championed by Mizani, was revised to exclude mentions of sharia after pushback from residents and local Muslim leaders.
Mizani said the topic of Islam is “one of the talking points” of his campaign in addition to lowering property taxes and strengthening border security.
“We’re simply speaking to issues that are of concern to residents of HD 98 and obviously of importance to the governor,” Mizani said.
His stance on Islam falls in line with other GOP leaders across Tarrant County and the state.
In July, Tarrant GOP members adopted a resolution denouncing CAIR and urging elected officials to declare “an invasion of Islamic centers, associations and societies as a dangerous threat to the citizens of Texas and the United States of America and a dangerous threat to our way of life.”
Also last summer, a former GOP chairman targeted Rep. Salman Bhojani, a Euless Democrat, on social media with multiple posts about Bhojani’s ethnicity and religion. The chairman called on federal officials to “denaturalize and deport” Bhojani, who is Muslim and Pakistani.
The same former chairman drew scrutiny throughout the summer for several incendiary social media posts about Muslim people, including a poll asking whether Jewish or Muslim people pose a “bigger threat to America.”
Carroll said Muslims are a “political football,” and scrutiny from politicians is “doing a lot of damage that’s going to hurt everybody.”
“We don’t even want them to play together. We think that’s a threat to everybody else,” Carroll said. “It’s just ludicrous. It’s crazy. And the people that are making these statements are crazy.”
Marissa Greene is a Report for America corps member, covering faith for the Fort Worth Report. You can contact her at marissa.greene@fortworthreport.org. Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org.
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