Les Hijabeuses: the female footballers tackling France’s on-pitch hijab ban

Young players excluded from matches because of their religious dress find a way to play on and encourage other hijab-wearing women into the sport

Foune Diawara was 15 years old when she was first told she could not wear her hijab in a football match.

It was an important game. She had recently got into the team of a club in Meaux, the town north-east of Paris where she grew up, and they were playing a local rival. Diawara had been wearing her hijab during training, but as she was about to walk on to the pitch, the referee said she must remove it if she wanted to play.