2023-07-12 06:33:48
Although some players, because of their records, are considered by some as deities, it is nevertheless much rarer to see the religious fact interfere in the stadiums. The Council of State will however lift the veil, on June 29, 2023, by ruling on the legality of an article of the statutes of the decision of the French Football Federation (FFF) whose purpose is to prohibit the wearing any sign or outfit ostensibly showing religious attire during sporting events.
The FFF modified, by deliberation of its federal assembly of May 28, 2006, article 1 of its statutes by introducing a new clause according to which “(…) are prohibited, on the occasion of competitions or events organized on the territory of the Federation or in connection with them (…) any wearing of a symbol or outfit ostensibly manifesting a political, philosophical, religious or trade union affiliation”. The federation justifies that as part of its public service mission, it must enforce the defense of the fundamental values of the French Republic.
A collective of associations headed by the Citizen Alliance and the Syndicate of hidjabeuses introduced an appeal for excess of power seeking the cancellation of the said deliberation. The application being articulated, in the main, around two pleas of internal illegality: on the one hand, the excessive interference with the freedom to manifest one’s religious convictions (Conv. EDH, art. 9; EU Charter, art. 10 and 11) and, on the other hand, the disregard of the principle of neutrality of the public service not being applicable to the participants of a sports competition since the latter would be deemed to be users of the said service.
Following a prior administrative appeal to the FFF, which was expressly rejected on August 31, 2021, the collective brought an action for interim relief (CJA, art. 521-1), deemed inadmissible on the grounds that the condition of urgency is not characterized (CE, ord., 22 Nov. 2021, n° 458092).
The competence of the administrative judge: a classic start to the match?
The first salient point of this judgment relates to the competence, not obvious, of the administrative judge; the four points of the decision devoted solely to this question bear witness to this.
Firstly, the supreme judges apply a rule of principle with regard to the qualification of the administrative nature of an act, by mobilizing the organic criterion. Concretely, the latter recall that sports federations are deemed to be legal entities under private law which consequently adopt acts which “are, in principle, acts of private law” subject, where appropriate, to the judicial judge. .
However, and in order to avoid a declaration of incompetence, the Council of State adjusts its reasoning by mobilizing several provisions of the sports code. On the one hand, it recognizes the link between the sports federation and its public service mission, through a delegation (taking the form of an approval) from the minister responsible for sports (C. sport, art. L 131-8). This approval allows federations to organize freely, at least in theory, local, national and international sports competitions, in accordance with paragraph 2 of article L. 131-1 of the sports code according to which: “They exercise their independent activity”.
At first glance, these administrative formalities do not seem to authorize the public authorities to interfere in the internal functioning of the…
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