Controversy in France over the sports hijab: a company canceled its sale due to threats

Everything happened in a few hours: the company Decathlon announced Tuesday that he was going to propose this hijab in Francewhat he has been doing for a few weeks in Morocco.

"It's a sport product with a breathable and reflective fabric. Decathlon has decided to make it available to women, whatever their origin, they can use it whenever they wish, "Xavier Rivoire, head of the firm's communications department, told Efe, explaining the decision.

But its marketing has been submitted since its publication to the public. frontal attack of the political clbad and many consumers, who have expressed their intention not to buy back in this chain.

A few hours later, at 18:00 local time (17:00 GMT), Rivoire himself announced on the radio "RTL" that the group was withdrawing. "We are making the decision, in all do not market the product in France at this time"the spokesman said.

On their social networks, Decathlon reported that since Tuesday morning they were confronted with "a wave of unprecedented insults and threats".

According to the group, his customer service received in a few hours more than 500 emails and calls protesting against the measure. In addition, they badured that some employees in their stores had been threatened "sometimes physically".

And they posted on their Twitter account one of the supposed examples of threats received: "They betray the values ​​of the French Republic. Contribute to the Islamist invasion. They will end up with this rascal in ovens in Poland"

And they ended up asking everyone to calm down and put an end to verbal or physical threats.

The immense tumult that broke loose in a country with stormy relations with the veil spread through the intervention of different officials, opposed to their sale, called for a boycott.

"The sport emancipates, does not submit. My choice as a woman and citizen will not be to trust a brand that breaks with our values, "he said on Twitter. Aurore Bergé, spokesman of the government party La Republica en Marcha (LREM).

The Minister of Health, Agnès BuzynHe recalled that, although the law allows the Islamic veil, it represents "a vision of women" that he said do not share, and stressed that does not defend "that differentiation between men and women is favored".

More critics were of others like the conservatives Republicans, who saw "a new sign of submission to the Islamist way of life" or the National Association of Marine Le Pen, from the far right, who has lodged a complaint against "the exponential development of claims and the dimension of identity of a religion"

The controversy surrounding this type of clothing in France, where the American multinational Nike also sells them, is not new.