If skydiving in a hijab presents no problems to certain intrepid Muslim women, then why should kicking a football around while wearing a headscarf make some European referees lose their cool?
These were not, however, the concerns behind the organizers of Saturday's friendly match between the women's teams of Atletico Madrid (10) and (0, ouch!)Tangier's Gazelles du Detroit. No, the whole point - the gool, as the Spanish would say - was to serve as the backdrop for a film on Tangier's soccer madness - for Spanish football, that is. Just try to rouse anyone away from the TV screens of Tangier's cafes when Barca and Madrid are facing off.
Spanish film maker Juan Gautier is making Tanger Gool, and what better star to choose than Tangier's own Soufia Issami, who made such an impression in the 2011 On the Edge (Sur la Planche), also shot in Tangier.
Bravo to Spain's Cervantes Institute for (a) organizing Gautier's film and the women's match and (b), for mounting a great digital photography course, which went on a Saturday field trip to cover the match. The Legation's budding photojournalist Mohammed Jadidi (below, in a great picture by photography teacher Paco Rodriguez) was part of the scene.
Gerald Loftus