Moroccan footballer Nouhaila Benzina is set to make history as she becomes the first-ever hijabi-wearing athlete at the World Cup.
The news arrived less than three weeks after France’s top administrative court upheld the French football federation(FFF) ban on players wearing hijabs during football matches, deeming the regulation “suitable and appropriate.”
In 2007, FIFA issued a ban on all hijabs, with the belief that the garment was a “safety risk” to players. Seven years later, the governing body lifted the ban. However, numerous countries and federations, most notably the FFF, still exclude hijabi-wearing players from participating in the sport.
Yet, as the Atlas Lionesses take to the pitch against Germany on 24 July in their opening group stage match of their maiden Women’s World Cup, Benzina will don the headdress to mark the first time in the tournament’s history a player will do so.
The fight to wear hijabs in within women’s football has reached new heights recently amid a surge in interest in the sport. Teams such as Sisterhood Football Club, a Muslim female-only team in London, provide spaces for women to play the sport they love while adhering to their faith.
Nevertheless, women across the world continue to face obstacles in finding such spaces. And Benzina’s wearing of the hijab later this month is considered a major step in raising awareness of the need to create more accepting spaces for Islam-practicing women to play football.
The 25-year-old made history last year when she helped Morocco to become the first North African and Arab country to participate in the final of a continental tournament, WAFCON. The Atlas Lions defeated African powerhouse and 11-time defending champions Nigeria in the semi-final.
The victory secured them the title of the first Middle Eastern and North African region to qualify for the Women’s World Cup. Morocco were drawn into a daunting group with favourites Germany, Columbia and Korea.
