France’s top administrative court has upheld the French Football Federation’s ban on players wearing hijabs during football matches, deeming the regulation “suitable and appropriate” in a recent statement.

A collective of hijabi football players in France called Les Hijabeuses have been campaigning for the right to wear a hijab while playing the sport they love, opening a case against the FFF last year.

The regulation, which bans “any sign or clothing clearly showing political, philosophical, religious or union affiliation” falls in line with France’s controversial ‘Veil Law’ passed in 2004. The law banned all highly-visible religious symbols, a regulation that disproportionately affected hijabi women as a result of its passing.

The hijab has been highly policed in Western society, and football has had its own contentious history with the headscarf over the years.

FIFA banned all headdresses in 2007, after 11-year-old Asmahan Mansour was excluded from a football tournament due to her hijab being labelled a safety risk. Her team filed a complaint with the governing body, only for FIFA to uphold the unfair ruling and subsequently exclude an entire demographic from playing the beautiful game.

Though the ban was lifted in 2014, France is one of the only countries that has continued to exclude hijabi players, with the FFF officially banning the hijab in 2020. Since then, Les Hijabeuses and other human rights groups and activists have campaigned against the ban.

The regulation being upheld and openly supported by multiple French politicians speaks volumes about religious freedom and expression, not only in football, but in all sports and wider society.

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