Paris 2024 hijab ban: Amnesty slams France's "discriminatory" policy against Muslim athletes Article by Middle East Eye

The British website Middle East Eye published an article on the ban on hijab-wearing by French female athletes at the Olympic Games, slated to kick off on July 26, in Paris. Caliber.Az brings the piece to the attention of its readers.

Amnesty International has condemned the ban on French women athletes wearing the hijab at the Paris Olympic Games, calling it a clear example of "discriminatory hypocrisy" by French authorities and the "craven weakness" of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

In its new report, “We can’t breathe anymore. Even sports, we can’t do them anymore,” Amnesty examines the negative impact of the hijab ban on Muslim women and girls in sports across France. The report states that the hijab ban violates international human rights laws.

Last September, France’s sports minister, Amelie Oudea-Castera, announced that no member of the French delegation would be allowed to wear the headscarf during the Olympic Games, scheduled from 26 July to 11 August.

“The representatives of our delegations in our French teams will not wear the veil,” the minister declared, emphasizing the government's commitment to strict secularism in sports. She added, “This means the prohibition of any form of proselytism, the absolute neutrality of public service.”

The IOC later clarified that these restrictions would not apply to athletes from other countries.

The ban contradicts IOC regulations, which view the headscarf worn by many Muslim women as cultural and non-political clothing. Human rights experts have sharply criticized the ban, with some social media users calling for a boycott of the event.

French historian Fabrice Riceputi described the situation on social media as, “Welcome to the first Islamophobic Olympics in history!”

A spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said, “No one should dictate to a woman what she should or should not wear.”

In October, six UN human rights experts wrote to French authorities, expressing concern that the ban violates Muslim women's and girls' rights to participate in sports and could fuel intolerance and discrimination against them.

In France, women and girls wearing sports headgear are often prohibited from participating in various sports, including football, basketball, judo, boxing, volleyball, and badminton, even at the amateur level. France is the only country among 38 European nations reviewed by Amnesty International to have such bans enshrined in national legislation or sports regulations.

By banning the hijab, France breaches multiple obligations under international rights treaties, including conventions on eliminating discrimination against women and racial discrimination. This also goes against the IOC's human rights framework.

Amnesty International emphasized that the Olympic Charter states, “The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the opportunity to practise sport without discrimination of any kind.”

The Olympic Host Contract also requires the host country to “protect and respect human rights and ensure that any violation of human rights is remedied.”

France’s ban also contradicts clothing rules of international sports bodies such as FIFA, FIBA, and FIVB.

“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 exposes the racist gender discrimination in France’s access to sport,” said Anna Blus, an Amnesty International researcher.

Despite repeated demands, the IOC has refused to urge French authorities to revoke the ban. On 11 June, a coalition of organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, published a letter to the IOC, demanding that it call on French sporting authorities to overturn the ban. The IOC responded that France’s prohibition on sports hijabs was outside its remit, stating that “freedom of religion is interpreted in many different ways by different states.”

Rights groups argue that the ban negatively impacts many Muslim athletes, causing discrimination, exclusion, and humiliation. Some have even considered leaving the country to find opportunities to practise their sport elsewhere.

This ban means many Muslim women miss out on necessary training and competition opportunities to reach the highest levels of their respective sports.

Amnesty’s report highlights that preventing Muslim women and girls from participating fully and freely in sports can have devastating impacts on their mental and physical health.

Helene Ba, a basketball player affected by the ban, shared her experience: “Mentally, it is also hard because you really feel excluded. Especially if you go to the bench and the referee tells you to go to the stands. Everyone sees you… It is a walk of shame.”

Another woman, identified as B, told Amnesty International: “It is sad. It is even shameful to be, at this point in 2024, blocking dreams just because of a piece of fabric.”

A coach in Paris remarked, “It is a shame because we may be losing quality athletes,” while sociologist Haifa Tlili spoke of “violent” and “conscious” racism, saying the policy aims to make this population invisible.

Faiza, a multi-sport practitioner, denounced the “hypocrisy” of celebrating gender equality while discriminating against Muslim women: “So we are invisible. We do not count among the women because you have excluded us from the get-go. We cannot even practise the sport that we want to.”

Activists and rights groups have long criticized the intense focus on hijab and Muslim women’s clothing in France as a symptom of normalized Islamophobia. Amnesty stated that under international law, state neutrality or secularism is not a legitimate reason to restrict freedom of expression and religion.

“For several years, French authorities have weaponized these concepts to justify laws and policies that disproportionately impact Muslim women and girls… fueled by prejudice, racism, and gendered Islamophobia,” Amnesty added.

In France, public servants are banned from wearing religious symbols at work, and Muslim teenagers cannot wear the hijab in schools. Last September, the government also banned the abaya dress in public educational institutions.

“No policymaker should dictate what a woman can or cannot wear, and no woman should be forced to choose between the sport she loves and her faith, cultural identity, or beliefs,” Amnesty’s Anna Blus concluded.