2023-06-25 18:43:55
Nearly twenty years after the 2004 law prohibiting the wearing of conspicuous religious symbols at school, it is up to the sports world to be confronted with the dilemma of the Muslim veil. The Council of State examines, this Monday, June 26, an appeal of veiled footballers gathered in the collective of Hijabeuses against the regulations of the French Football Federation (FFF), whose article 1 prohibits in particular religious outfits or accessories.
Unlike the school, public service and symbol of the republican melting pot, sports federations are private bodies. They are certainly delegated a public service mission, but the principle of secularism cannot be invoked, as in 2004, to restrict the freedom of expression of ordinary users.
The principle of neutrality in question
The legal path that the administrative judge will take, whether he validates or sanctions the ban on the FFF, is in this respect eagerly awaited.. The challenge is in particular to determine whether a body can use its regulatory power to lay down a principle of “neutrality”, as the FFF does by referring to the values of sport.
Pending the decision of the Council of State, it is the revenge of the school match that is being played today in stadiums and gymnasiums, where the situation has been tense for a decade. In 2012, under pressure in particular from certain Arab-Muslim countries, international football bodies decided to authorize the wearing of the veil.
The FFF enters into resistance and reinforces its vigilance in the context of terrorist attacks in France. Until the attacks of 2015, “Religion and radicalization were taboo subjects that were not or hardly discussed”, recognized Pierre Guibert, member of the executive board of the FFF auditioned in the Senate, in 2020. The federation clarified its rules in 2016 and specifically banned signs “Ostensibly manifesting a political, philosophical, religious or trade union affiliation”.
Since then, attempts to circumvent or challenge the rules have only increased. “We are being reported to more and more cases, but there is still a lot of under-reporting because the situations can be very tense”, observes Éric Borghini, member of the executive committee of the FFF. Reported to the 2 million licensees, the incidents remain marginal. But pressure is mounting in working-class towns.
The daily The Parisian recently returned to several episodes of disrupted or canceled matches. The investigation pointed to the laxity of certain club or district officials (the departmental body of the federation) who force referees to intervene during matches and to take risks.
Unrest among referees
One of them confirms, on condition of anonymity, a malaise that is setting in. “Many of my colleagues are reluctant to enforce the rules so as not to cause an incident. This is especially the case when they do not feel supported by the district,” explains our interlocutor, who particularly targets the case of Seine-Saint-Denis. On June 18, two women’s district cup final matches were canceled in Seine-et-Marne and Val-de-Marne due to the refusal of players to play bareheaded.
The sociologist Médéric Chapitaux points to the influence of community clubs but also the tensions linked to the demands of families. “The rule is not enforced because clubs cannot afford to lose dues when subsidies are often down,” he analyzes.
Emancipation through sport is the argument put forward by Hijabeuses and those who, in the sports world, oppose the ban. According to them, the measure proves to be discriminatory since it actually affects only Muslim women. Despite a recent call to order from the brand new president of the FFF, Philippe Diallo, some district officials – who are elected by the clubs – therefore refuse to follow the national authorities.
A situation that Médéric Chapitaux deplores. “If we are not firm, we will lose a lot of energy. After the veil, there will be demands for clothing covering the whole body or boys who no longer want to play in shorts. If the Hijabeuses win, there will be a domino effect in other sports,” he anticipates.
The French Basketball Federation (FFBB), which also prohibits religious symbols, is facing tensions, as proved by the expulsion of a player from Aubervilliers (Seine-Saint-Denis) playing in the championship de France (National 3) in January.
Also auditioned in the Senate in 2020, Jean-Pierre Siutat, since elected president of the FFBB, then painted a gloomy picture for this sport very present in the neighborhoods. He mentioned the meetings between small amateur clubs, without official arbitration: “The home team asks the visiting team if it accepts that the players are veiled, and the visiting team does not answer because they are afraid of being molested or stoned. »
Teenage girls leave clubs
Jean-Pierre Siutat also mentioned these players who stop the sport in adolescence under the influence of their parents. “Young girls are disappearing from clubs in Île-de-France”, the region with the lowest rate of feminization in France. “Exclusion is a kind of facility and we must find a solution to this problem”, admitted the framework of the FFBB which, like the others, has developed training and educational systems.
The Council of State is called upon to decide in a political context which also recalls the situation of 2004. As at the time, the parliamentary right has been trying for years to introduce prohibitive legislation. During the separatism law of 2021 and then that on the democratization of sport in 2022, Les Républicains tried, in vain, to pass amendments aimed at extending the law on schools to sports competitions.
3,449 inspections in 2022
This would amount to restricting freedom of religious expression. It would create – apart from the particular case of the school environment – a precedent that is legally very fragile with regard to the protection of fundamental freedoms. “Secularism implies the neutrality of the State but it has never imposed that of individuals”, thus recalls the jurist Stéphanie Hennette-Vauchez.
Faced with attacks from the right, the presidential majority highlights the firmness of the public authorities vis-à-vis possible community abuses. If it is up to each federation to enact its rules, the government relies on the separatism law to strengthen the control of clubs and bodies.
According to figures from the Ministry of Sports sent to The cross3,449 inspections of physical and sports activity establishments (EAPS) were carried out in 2022, of which 27 resulted in “a countermeasure against weak signals of separatism”. They may relate to cases of «terrorist radicalization” or acts of attack on secularism: organization of prayers in the changing rooms or proselytism.
If the Council of State agrees with the FFF, the government, which has remained discreet for the moment, could demand more firmness from all the sports federations.
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Neutrality with variable geometry
For private sports clubsfreedom of expression is the rule both for employees (with possible limits but framed by the labor code) and for users.
Sports clubs and associations that are licensed or that receive public subsidies must sign the republican commitment contract established by the separatism law of 2021. They are not required to impose neutrality but must refrain from all proselytism and protect freedom of conscience.
The 119 approved federations, including 84 which receive a delegation from the Ministry of Sports, have a different status. They adopt regulations which for some, as for football and basketball, establish a principle of neutrality for licensees. Employees are subject to the duty of neutrality of civil servants.
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