Women footballers tackle France's ban on hijab with collective, 'Les Hijabeuses'

Hijab-wearing female footballers in France have launched a collective called ‘Les Hijabeuses’ to mount pressure on the French Football Federation (FFF) to change its rules on head coverings. As per Al Jazeera, the discussion around what Muslim women in France can and cannot do have emerged in the country after the Emmanuel Macron-led government passed the controversial “anti-separatism bill” to become law on August 24. 

The French members of parliament tried using the bill to formally ban the wearing of headscarves in all sports competitions but, it was reportedly deemed unconstitutional by lawmakers on June 9. The bill was proposed by Macron’s government last year to tackle the “Islamist extremism” and strengthen “laicite” (secularism). However, the bill has drawn severe backlash for being inclined towards far-right politics before the 2022 national elections and further marginalising Islam even though there are at least six million Muslims in France. 

Paris will also take over the Olympic relay from Tokyo 2020 for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games and France is the only country in entire Europe that excludes hijab-wearing women from playing in most domestic sports competitions. However, notably, the law states that in international competitions, including the Olympics, the foreign players with head coverings are allowed to play. This has further mounted questions on the French government as it specifically targets its nationals who wear hijab.

‘Les Hijabeuses’ led by hijab-wearing female footballers

The movement, ‘Les Hijabeuses,’ is led by Karthoum Dembelé and other hijab-wearing female footballers around Paris who are facing challenges in playing competitions in France. In 2020, a group of researchers and community organisers from the Citizen’s Alliance founded the collective. Citizen’s Alliance also campaigns against several social injustices in the country, as per the report. 

Over a year later, the collective, Les Hijabeuses has almost 150 members and nearly 5,000 followers on Instagram and have even organised a protest at FFF headquarters on July 23. The group has reportedly written several letters to FF President Noël Le Graët in a bid to end the exclusion of Muslim women. However, they are yet to receive a reply. 

“We are all fighting for more inclusive football, which would integrate all women,” Dembelé told Al Jazeera. “We are trying to make people understand that we are female athletes. It’s not because we wear the hijab that we should be excluded from the pitch...For the FFF, now, it’s time to wake up … I think they look more at our faces than our talent.”

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