The Paris Police Prefecture announced, Tuesday evening February 8, to ban the demonstration scheduled for Wednesday on the Esplanade des Invalides at the call of the Hijabeuses, a group of footballers who campaign for the right to wear the veil during sports competitions .
“It is to be feared that this demonstration will attract, in addition to the people who support it, people hostile to the cause defended and likely to do battle with the first[ères] », argues the Prefecture in a press release. The ban on assembly is justified “both for the safety of the demonstrators themselves and for the maintenance of public order”she adds.
The Prefect of Police issues a ban on a demonstration likely to create disorder… https://t.co/Cj90Qd6roE
This collective, created in May 2020, stands up against the French Football Federation (FFF), which prohibits playing veiled in competition. The young women had given “Meet at 4:30 p.m. for the return match on the Esplanade des Invalides, right next to the National Assembly”, according to their Twitter account. On the program: “football matches with Hijabeuses, allies and elected officials + speaking out”.
The court seised to challenge the ban
“We obviously took the matter to court to challenge this arbitrary, unfair and completely disproportionate decision”reacted the collective on Twitter after the announcement made by the Prefecture of Police. “A hearing will take place tomorrow morning, and it is hoped that the Prefecture will have to reconsider this ban. On our side, we will play no matter what. Surely elsewhere… but we will play”specifies the collective on the social network.
Last month, the Hijabeuses had already invited themselves briefly, on January 26, in the Luxembourg garden, at the foot of the Senate, to exchange a few passes, provided with a banner bearing the slogan “Football for All”before being asked to leave by the gendarmes.
This new call for Hijabeuses to demonstrate coincides with the return to the Palais Bourbon of a law proposal from La République en Marche (LRM) relating to sport, which sees deputies and senators oppose on the question of the ban on the wearing of competitive sailing.
The senators had voted on January 19 an amendment prohibiting the port “Ostensible religious signs” during a sports competition, immediately erased by the deputies. The two chambers having been unable to agree on a common text, a new reading is scheduled for Wednesday in the Assembly. The debates must then go back to the Senate on February 16 before the deputies give their last word.