PARIS: France’s highest administrative jurisdiction said Thursday the country’s soccer federation is entitled to ban headscarves in matches.
The Council of State issued its ruling after a collective of headscarf-wearing soccer players called “Les Hijabeuses” — the word hijab refers to the headscarf — campaigned against the ban and launched legal action.
The French soccer federation bans players from wearing headscarves in official matches, as well as at competitions it organizes. It’s not in line with the recommendations of soccer governing body FIFA, which authorizes players to compete at international level with headscarves.
The Council of State said sports federations “may impose on their players an obligation to wear neutral clothing during sporting competitions and events, in order to guarantee the smooth running of matches and prevent clashes or confrontation. It considers that the ban imposed by the FFF is appropriate and proportionate.”
The Council of State did not follow its public rapporteur’s recommendations, who earlier this week said Article 1 of the federation’s rules should be annulled. The article prohibits “the wearing of any sign or dress ostensibly manifesting a religious affiliation,” and applies to matches and competitions organized.
It is unclear whether the ban would be implemented for next year’s Paris Olympics.
The rapporteur had argued that religious symbols were already present in soccer, citing the example of players crossing themselves before entering the field.
French Interior Minister Gerard Darmanin told RTL radio earlier this week he was opposed to the wearing of the hijab during sports competitions.
“You don’t wear religious clothes when you play sports,” he said. “When you play soccer, you don’t need to know the religion of the person in front of you.”
Right-wing senators vainly tried last year to introduce an amendment to a law on sports that would have extended the ban on headscarves to all sports competitions, arguing that neutrality was a requirement on the field of play, and that headscarves could put at risk the safety of athletes wearing it when they practice their discipline.
The amendment was rejected in the lower house of the Parliament after a fierce debate.
Lawmakers had previously approved a bill to strengthen oversight of mosques, schools and sports clubs in a bid to safeguard France from radical Islamists and to promote respect for French values — one of President Emmanuel Macron’s landmark projects.
With France bloodied by terror attacks, few disagreed that radicalization was a danger. But critics also saw the law as a political ploy to lure the right wing to Macron’s centrist party ahead of the presidential election that Macron won.
France’s highest administrative court says the soccer federation can ban headscarves in matches
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France’s highest administrative court says the soccer federation can ban headscarves in matches
- A group of Muslim women footballers called the "Hijabeuses" launched the action against the French Football Federation (FFF)
- Rules currently ban the headscarves in competition along with "any sign or clothing clearly showing political, philosophical, religious or union affiliation".
Trump insists he struck Iran on his own terms
- “We are now a nation divided between those who want to fight wars for Israel and those who just want peace and to be able to afford their bills and health insurance,” Marjorie Taylor Greene posted on X.
- Rubio himself doubled down on Tuesday after meeting with US House and Senate members, while insisting that “No, I told you this had to happen anyway”
WASHINGTON, United States: President Donald Trump and his team scrambled Tuesday to reclaim the narrative on why he decided to attack Iran, after his top diplomat suggested the US struck only after learning of an imminent Israeli strike.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio alarmed Democrats — who say only Congress can declare war — as well as many of Trump’s MAGA supporters on Monday when he said: “We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action.”
“We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t pre-emptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties,” Rubio told reporters.
Administration officials quickly backpedalled, insisting Trump authorized the strikes because Tehran was not seriously negotiating an accord on limiting its nuclear ambitions, and the United States needed to destroy Iran’s missile capabilities.
“No, Marco Rubio Didn’t Claim That Israel Dragged Trump into War with Iran,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted Tuesday on X.
At an Oval Office meeting later with Germany’s chancellor, Trump went further, saying that “Based on the way the negotiation was going, I think they (Iran) were going to attack first. And I didn’t want that to happen.”
“So, if anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand.”
- Had to happen? -
Rubio himself doubled down on Tuesday after meeting with US House and Senate members, while insisting that “No, I told you this had to happen anyway.”
“The president made a decision. The decision he made was that Iran was not going to be allowed to hide... behind this ability to conduct an attack.”
Critics seized on the muddied messaging to accuse Trump of precipitating the country into a war without a clear rationale, without informing Congress — and without a clear idea of how it might end.
They noted that just two weeks ago, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pressed Trump again in Washington to take a hard line, in their seventh meeting since Trump’s return to power last year.
Some Republican allies rallied behind the president, with Senator Tom Cotton, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, insisting that “No one pushes or drags Donald Trump anywhere.”
“He acts in the vital national security interest of the United States,” Cotton told the “Fox & Friends” morning show.
But as crucial US midterm elections approach that could see Republicans lose their congressional majority, Trump risks shedding supporters who had welcomed his pledge to end foreign military interventions.
“We are now a nation divided between those who want to fight wars for Israel and those who just want peace and to be able to afford their bills and health insurance,” Marjorie Taylor Greene, a top former Trump ally and a major figure in the populist and isolationist hard right, posted on X.
