Rights groups accuse France of discriminatory hypocrisy over its ban on athletes wearing the hijab at the Paris Olympics. Amnesty International and others appeal to the IOC to reverse the decision.
Bollywood Fever: France is under fire from rights groups for its decision to ban athletes from wearing the hijab during the upcoming Paris Olympics, set to commence in ten days. Amnesty International, along with ten other organizations, has condemned the ban, asserting that it prevents athletes “from exercising their human right to play sport without discrimination of any kind.”
In an appeal to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Amnesty and other groups sought intervention to overturn France’s ban. However, the IOC responded that it was beyond its remit to change national policies, noting that “freedom of religion is interpreted in many different ways by different states.”
The IOC had previously stated that athletes could wear the hijab in the Olympic Village, emphasizing that “For the Olympic Village, the IOC rules apply. There are no restrictions on wearing the hijab or any other religious or cultural attire.”
France’s announcement in September to prevent its athletes from wearing the hijab was defended by Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera. She cited the principle of secularism, explaining that “a ban on any type of proselytising” was necessary to maintain “absolute neutrality in public services,” and therefore, the French team would not wear the headscarf.
This policy has sparked significant criticism both domestically and internationally. Amnesty International’s Women’s Rights Researcher in Europe, Anna Błuś, remarked, “Banning French athletes from competing with sports hijabs at the Olympic and Paralympic Games makes a mockery of claims that Paris 2024 is the first Gender Equal Olympics and lays bare the racist gender discrimination that underpins access to sport in France.”
France stands out as the only European country that prevents headscarf-wearing women from participating in most domestic sports competitions. Rights groups argue that this policy contravenes the IOC’s guidelines and international treaty obligations that France is bound to uphold.
The French Council of State upheld a similar prohibition on female footballers wearing the hijab during games in June 2023, imposed by the French Football Federation. Rights groups have long warned about the negative mental and physical consequences of excluding headscarf-wearing women from sports, citing humiliation, trauma, and fear.
The United Nations has also taken note of France’s approach. While the UN did not directly address the ban, a spokeswoman for the UN Rights Office in Geneva remarked that “no-one should impose on a woman what she needs to wear or not to wear,” adding that “discriminatory practices against a group can have harmful consequences” and that “restrictions on expressions of religions or beliefs, such as attire choices, are only acceptable under really specific circumstances.”
As the Paris Olympics draw near, the controversy over France’s hijab ban for athletes continues to escalate, highlighting broader issues of religious freedom, discrimination, and gender equality in sports.
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