his daughters' mother, is a Muslim from Kabyle, Algeria. The sisters wrote a book about their experience. Athletics Although FIFA allows women to play in hijab, the French Football Federation has banned women from wearing hijab in competitive matches. In 2022 the French Senate passed a law that would have codified this ban, although it failed in the National Assembly. Les Hijabeuses, a collective of Muslim soccer players, protested the bill and are now challenging the FFF ban. Practical consequences The veil controversy and its legislative consequences have revealed problems associated with the practice of the Islamic faith insofar as religion in French society and institutions (as opposed to the problems of integration of individuals). Partially fueled by the fear of a "communitarization" or "Islamization" of French society, the controversy has also fed off fears in certain sections of the Muslim community in France of "forced assimilation" and a slippery slope that would seek to ban more and more expressions of the Muslim faith. The controversy has also, however, brought the issue of the place of Islam in French society to the forefront of debate. The veil controversy has been used opportunely to promote the expression of a French form of Islam, distinct from the Islam in the French Muslims' countries of origin. The presence of Muslim Frenchwomen wearing tricolour veils and shouting, "I am French!" in protests in Paris against the law forbidding the veil is one example thereof. A survey conducted by the French polling organization CSA in January 2004, revealed that more than 90% of French Muslims claim to subscribe to culturally French principles such as the importance of the Republic and equal rights among men and women. The figure falls to 68% for respondents who believe in the separation of church and state. In contrast, a majority (50–60%) of those surveyed responded unfavorably to the law of laïcité, and would prefer to see their wife or daughter free to wear the veil. In 2004, a year after the law was voted in, one organization opposed to it, called the "Committee of the 15th of March and Liberty", published a report on the law's effects. The report cites the files of 806 students affected by the law. Of the 806 students, 533 have accepted the law and no longer wear their veils in class. The report also gives an assessment of students who have left the French