'Hands off my hijab': French Muslims rail against ban on religious garb in soccer

"We are strong together and we will fight to the end," said Hawa Doucouré, 19.

Hawa Doucouré and her teammates on the Les Hijabeuses soccer team have a simple message to send while playing the game they love: "Hands off my hijab." It's a message they hope is received not only by the French Football Federation, but the country's government as well. "We are strong together and we will fight to the end," Doucouré, 19, told ABC News. "We will fight until every woman can play the sport that she wants to play, how she wants to play it." The Hijabeuses, a collective of French soccer players, have spent the last year fighting to be included in official competitions. While FIFA, the world governing body for football, has permitted the Muslim veil on the field since 2014, the French Football Federation continues to ban it in club matches and international games, telling ABC News that it “promotes and defends the values of secularism, living together, neutrality and the fight against all forms of discrimination.”