Government Split Over Islamic Headscarf in French Sports

Elisabeth Moreno alone against the other members of the government. Questioned about the wearing of the hijab in sport, the Minister Delegate for Women’s and Men’s Equality affirmed that women "have the right to wear the Islamic veil to play" on a football field. "The law says that these young girls can wear the veil and play football. On football pitches today, it is not forbidden to wear the veil. I want us to respect the law," she said on LCI last Thursday. These statements in support of the "hijabeuses", a collective that is campaigning for this right in competition, while the regulations of the French Football Federation (FFF) prohibit the wearing of religious symbols in competition.

These statements are not to the liking of her colleague Marlène Schiappa, Minister Delegate for Citizenship and former Secretary of State for Gender Equality, nor of the entire executive. On Europe1 last Friday, Gabriel Attal, government spokesperson, specified that Elisabeth Moreno’s position was not that of the government. However, he tried to defend the minister. "She clarified her remarks. There is no need for me to do it. She regretted the instrumentalization that had been made of this issue and she went back on her remarks," he said.

The spokesperson’s remarks are far from calming the ardor. "The government has always been in favor of banning religious symbols during matches. We are therefore totally opposed to the legal action taken against the FFF statutes," Marlène Schiappa wrote on Twitter.