Neymar, Olivier Giroud and Toulouse player Zakaria Aboukhlal, these footballers who do not hide their faith
The Arabic-language Achkayen media, which accused TFC player Zakaria Aboukhlal of advocating Salafism, withdrew its article and apologized to the player. The Moroccan international from Toulouse is a fervent believer. And this is not an isolated case in football. Many players do not hide his religious beliefs.
On December 23, the Moroccan site Achkayen published a paper entitled “Aboukhlal, a Salafist in the national team”. The media accused the Moroccan TFC international of having “the apology of Salafism within the selection of Morocco and attempted to recruit players to its cause” during the World Cup, which has just ended in Qatar.
This article ignited the web. The Moroccan Football Federation and its club in Toulouse have stated the accusations of the Achkayen media while supporting the player.
Since then, the article in question has been unpublished and the site at the origin of this false information has apologized to Zakaria Aboukhlal”for the moral damage he may have suffered because of the expressions that the article may have contained, unintentionally, or because of the tendentious distortion of some with regard to its content and its objectives”.
Evoking Salafism as the Achkayan media did, is above all evoking radical Islam. And there is nothing to confirm that Zakaria Aboukhlal is linked to Salafism. This unfounded rumor can only harm the player and those around him.
Like many professional football players, Zakaria Aboukhlal has never hidden his religious beliefs. Whether on the field or on social networks. In Qatar, during the World Cup, Aboukhlal and some Moroccan players put their knees and hands on the ground. A sign of prostration which could be interpreted as a religious sign called the Soujoud.
Zakaria Aboukhlal is very comfortable with his religious beliefs.
On social networks, he does not hesitate to mention his love for Islam. Many editions evoke him as in this Instagram post, below, where we see him with an imam during Ramadan:
The parallel between displayed faith and religious proselytism is dangerous. Zakaria Aboukhlal lives his faith intensely. The new notoriety of the player and the Atlas Lions during this Football World Cup opened the way to rumors and deplorable amalgams.
Before the World Cup in Qatar, the TFC player “barely” deserved 670,000 followers on his Instagram account. At the end of December 2022, there were nearly 3 million.
In 2014, the journalist Nicholas Vilasauthor of “God football club” evoked a certain form of proselytism of players on social networks.
“We cannot generalize but certain religious currents, such as evangelicals, assume proselytism as a mission. It is also assumed in some mainstream Muslims, but not all. There are players who will talk about their faith with their teammates or with other people, but these are not necessarily proselytizing acts, assumed as such. Often, it’s just exchange, quite simply. The player is taken by his faith and he has the more or less conscious need to want to share it with the people around him” he explains in an interview with Europe 1
On the ground, the story is quite different. The national and international statutes of professional football are very clear. Are forbidden “any wearing of a sign or outfit ostensibly manifests a political, philosophical, religious or trade union affiliation“. Yet some players are no longer hiding.
During the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil, Neymar wore a headband.100% Jesus” on the head.
The PSG player is a follower ofSao Vincente Pentecostal Church in Brazil. Many times on the pitch he wore this headband.
More discreet, Olivier Giroud’s tattoo. The French international of AC Milan has had a tattoo in Latin of the verse of the bible ” The eternal is my shepherd, I lack nothing (Psalm 23) on the forearm.
In an interview at magazineGQOlivier Giroud declared last August: “Knowing the life of Jesus helps me enormously because I realized that it gives me deep humility. It helps me a lot on a daily basis and I try to do the same for my family, for my children”.
So can there be drifts among these religious players. Cases of radicalization are extremely rare in professional football.
In 2017, the Tunisian international Anis Ben Hatiramidfielder from Darmstadt (Germany), was dismissed from the club because of his proximity to a humanitarian organization, close to the Salafist movement.
Anis Ben-Hatira supported a charity organization, Ansar International. According to German intelligence, it is a very close association”in the German Salafist milieu”.
Another case, that of Hatem Trabelsi. The former player of Ajax Amsterdam, confirmed his membership of Salafism. The former Tunisian international now defends a rigorous Islam.