The public rapporteur of the Council of State in favor of the hijab in football competitions

In the real showdown between the Hijabeuses collective and the French Football Federationaround the thorny question of the ban on wearing the veil on the green lawns, which side will win the case with the Council of State?

Seizure of the appeal filed by the Hijabeuses against article 1 of the FFF regulations, which prohibits since 2016 “any wearing of a sign or outfit ostensibly manifesting a political, philosophical, religious or trade union affiliation” during competitions, the highest French administrative court leaned, Monday, June 26, on the veil of discord…

To the chagrin of the FFF, of Gérald Darmanin, the Minister of the Interior, and of the dominant doxa, the hearing held yesterday tipped the scales clearly in favor of the Hijabeuses, by the voice of the public rapporteur , Clement Malverti.

Against the current of general anti-veil hostility, the latter has indeed recommended the cancellation of article 1, asking that the FFF modify its rules.

Clément Malverti felt that the question could arise for the players selected for the France team, where they represent “the nation” and perform “a public service mission”. But she is “otherwise more questionable” for other footballers licensed to the FFF. In his eyes, therefore, there is neither “proselytizing” neither “provocation” in the only wearing of the hijab and no “requirement of neutrality” for these players.

With the current regulation, which has the “monopoly” on the organization of matches, players wearing the veil are de facto “excluded” and must “renounce all competition and all career”. He also noted that FIFA and “all international sports federations” authorized the wearing of the hijab in competition. Clément Malverti underlined the importance of this subject, warning against the “risk” that some subsequently try to“extend” banning the veil from other public spaces.

If the opinion of the public rapporteur is generally followed, he, in this case, raised the hair of the Minister of the Interior. Far from subscribing to it, Gérald Darmanin said to himself “very opposite” the authorization for female footballers to wear the hijab in competition. ” You don’t have to wear religious clothes when you play sports. (…) When you play football, you don’t have to know the religion of the person in front of you”, he hammered into the microphone of RTL.

The Council of State will have to decide within three weeks. There is no doubt that by then, Gérald Darmanin will endeavor to bring all his weight to bear in the legal tussle which is getting thicker between the Hijabeuses collective and the FFF, under the loud cries of the feminists of Parisianism… there even who have the art of brilliantly serving the cause they claim to support, by measuring the emancipation of the fairer sex by the length of a skirt alone.