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Religion: France fights jihadists who recruit through sport
GENTILLY, France, Dec 23, 2017 (BSS/AFP) – Boxing, football, bodybuilding
and jihad: most of those who have carried out terrorist attacks in France
also played organised sport, and clubs, particularly in the Paris region, are
worried.
The problem might still be rare, but clubs are training their staff to
detect radicalisation on the playing fields in a country which has been
frequently targeted by jihadists.
“Leo, a young footballer, has changed recently. He is late to training
because he says he has to go to the mosque to pray beforehand, and he refuses
to shake hands with women. What do we do?”
Faced with this question from an instructor, the eight club officers from
different sports round the table think hard.
At the start of this training day, the only one of its kind in France, at
the headquarters of the Ile de France sports committee in Gentilly, a suburb
south of Paris, the regional vice-president, Patrick Karam, had exhorted
those present to be “intransigent” in the face of radicalisation.
According to French government figures, of the 8.7 million registered
members of sports clubs in France, some 829 individuals had been flagged as
radicalised by November, 147 of those in the Ile de France.
The proportion might be small, but sports club, led by martial arts,
football and bodybuilding are — the government says — the number one place
of radicalisation in France, ahead of places of worship.
In Lagny-sur-Marne, in the eastern suburbs of Paris, the local government
banned two coaches suspected of radicalisation at a football club in
November.
– Trapped by fundamentalists –
In Paris, a former junior judo star was thrown off a coaching course
because “he refused to salute the mat, saying that he could only bow his head
before the Prophet and that he did not wish to speak to women,” one of the
officials who tried in vain to persuade the trainee to change told AFP.
The home-grown terrorists who have carried out attacks in France have
frequented sports clubs, and several were linked to each other in this way,
said one of the speakers at Gentilly, Mederic Chapitaux.
“We are not asking you to be informers but to play your role as educators
and to protect these youngsters,” said Karam, assuring the participants of
“absolute confidentiality” in the reporting process to protect them from
possible retaliation in their neighbourhoods.
These are risks that one of the participants at Gentilly, Corinne — not
her real name — knows well. Her son “was beaten up one night by a gang” who
did not want the sports association she runs on their turf in the eastern
suburbs of Paris.
Corinne is angry with the local mayor who ended up closing the sports
hall.
“The unemployed young people have been trapped by drug trafficking or the
Muslim fundamentalists. Several went to Iraq or Syria, two are in prison for
planning a terrorist attack.”
As for the case of Leo, a dialogue with his brother and the support of
social services allowed the young footballer to resolve his family problems
which had pushed him to breaking point.
“We kept the channel with him open, which is essential,” said the
instructor who had come from National Committee of Liaison and Prevention
(CNLAPS), which serves as a resource for clubs and associations.
The CNLAPS instructor offered another case study based on real characters.
“Dany and Robin, 24-year-old twins who had served time in prison for drug
trafficking and had become very religious, divide their time between the
mosque and sport. They have married and envisage going with their wives to
Egypt to learn Arabic. They hang out with two youngsters from your boxing
club.”
In the face of a “strong signal” of the departure of a family member who
might be going to Iraq or Syria and the risk of “infection” of the two young
men, the majority of participants choose to signal the case to the
authorities.
“You must not hesitate. The recruiters move very fast,” the instructor
emphasised.
After the session, a number of those present expressed their satisfaction.
Corinne said she “feels less isolated” and that she sees that there are
mechanisms “to help us.”
“This gives us guidelines and tools just in case,” said Christine, who
helps run a football club in the outskirts of Paris.
BSS/AFP/MRI/1025hrs