Cédric Chasseur / Photo credits: MOHAMMADALI NAJIB / MIDDLE EAST IMAGES VIA AFP
The French Football Federation recently called league and district presidents to order. After a victory on the ban on the wearing of religious symbols on the pitch, it is now attacking tights and helmets to avoid any abuse of the principle of neutrality.
Is this a new attack on secularism denounced by the French Football Federation? Last year, she obtained a first legal victory, with the validation of the ban on any sign or outfit ostensibly demonstrating political, philosophical, religious or union affiliation on football fields. A ban which notably targeted the wearing of the hijab. It is another phenomenon that the FFF is tackling today: the wearing of long tights under shorts, or helmets.
The affair was even the subject of two letters at the start of the year, from the president of the Federation, Philippe Diallo, then from the president of the Amateur Football League, Vincent Nolorgues, to bang his fist on the table.
Referees attacked
League and district presidents are reminded of the simple rules: these long tights or helmets are not authorized in matches, unless exempted from the FFF Medical Commission. Several cases were reported to the Federation at the end of the year, sometimes leading to verbal or physical threats against referees.
“We have referees who were attacked because they demanded that the players in question have equipment that complies with the laws of the game. So, we are extremely vigilant because we are in the strictest observance of the republican legality”, explains Éric Borghini, president of the Federal Arbitration Commission.
Some players have tried to produce false medical documents to try to fool the Federation. Cases quickly identified. The FFF reminds that in the event of non-compliance with the regulations, a player risks non-participation in the match. And if he refuses to submit to the laws of the game, the match could be canceled, with regulatory sanctions.