Moroccan Defender Makes History as First Hijab-Wearing Player in Women’s World Cup

On Sunday, Nouhaila Benzina’s debut surprised football fans. The Moroccan defender became the first player to wear the veil at a World Cup. "There are images so striking, so provocative and so profound that they change the world. This weekend, we witnessed one of those images at the wonderful Women’s World Cup taking place in Australia: The Moroccan Nouhaila Benzina took the field against South Korea, becoming the first player to wear a hijab at a World Cup," commented Stefano Hatfield, a British journalist and editor, in a column published on the inews.co.uk website.

"A lot of work has been done over the years, and there has been a positive result," the Moroccan player had said to Al-Jazeera well before the start of the competition. Since 2014, FIFA has allowed the wearing of the hijab in international matches. "It was a request that came from a group of countries and a group of players who said that this would contribute to the development of football and this was the main argument that led the IFAB - the body that determines the laws of the game - to say yes," Jérôme Valcke, the former FIFA Secretary General, had pointed out in Le Monde.

Despite FIFA’s decision, the issue of the veil continues to polarize political divides in the West. The government of Elisabeth Borne in France has expressed its determination to ban the wearing of the veil in sports for the respect of secularism. "It will prevent these women, these French citizens from being fulfilled on a field and being able to practice the sport they love. It’s very sad to come to this. They will be excluded from football. We are really in injustice and inequality," had reacted the player Lina Boussaha, trained at PSG and exiled in Saudi Arabia to play on the fields with her veil following the rejection in June by the Council of State of the request of the Hijabeuses - a collective of Muslim players who demand the right to play veiled in competition. Article 1 of the statutes of the French Football Federation (FFF) prohibits in particular "any wearing of a sign or outfit ostentatiously manifesting a religious affiliation".