France has refused to lift a ban preventing its athletes from wearing a hijab at the upcoming Olympics in Paris.
The host nation has faced intense pressure from human rights and sporting organisations since announcing the ruling in April.
But despite heavy criticism from campaigners who have called for the decision to be reversed, French ministers have refused to back down.
Australian Muslim boxer Tina Rahimi, who wears a full hijab during bouts has slammed the ban, which only applies to French athletes.
‘Thankfully I’m still able to participate in my hijab, which I’m so grateful for,’ she said in a video on Instagram.
‘But it’s so unfortunate for the athletes in France because it has nothing to do with their performance. It should not get in the way of you being an athlete.
‘It’s so hard for you to be an Olympic athlete and to think that you have to give away your faith to participate in these events. I believe everyone should be equal.’
Why has France banned its athletes from wearing the hijab?
French sports minister, Amelie Oudea-Castera, said the decision to ban its nation’s athletes from wearing a hijab was made to ‘uphold the principle of secularism’.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said the host country considers athletes representing it as civil servants.
While women are free to observe the hijab, any sportsperson competing for French national teams must act in accordance with French laws.
The IOC said: ‘This means that they must respect the principles of secularism (laïcité) and neutrality, which, according to French law, means prohibition from wearing outwardly religious symbols, including the hijab, veil and headscarf when they are acting in their official capacity and on official occasions as members of the French national team.’
The hijab ban only applies to French athletes, meaning Olympians such as Algerian table tennis star Lynda Loghraibi are not affected – but France’s competitors are (Picture: Getty)
But human rights groups claim the policy not only breaches the IOC’s own guidelines, but also international treaty obligations France must uphold.
Amnesty International’s women’s rights researcher Anna Błuś says the ban ‘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’.
She said: ‘It shows Muslim women that when the French authorities talk about equality between men and women, they don’t see them as women. They don’t count them.
‘These communities and these women have been demonised and vilified for years.’
The human rights organisation published a lengthy report last week criticising the French authorities for the ‘discriminatory hypocrisy’ of its hijab bans across a number of sports including soccer, volleyball, and basketball.
It also questioned the IOC’s refusal to put more pressure on ministers in France to overturn the ban, especially as it doesn’t apply to non-French athletes at the Olympics.
The IOC said one French athlete who observes the hijab qualified for the 2024 Olympic games but the situation ‘has been resolved to the satisfaction of everyone’.
‘How is my hijab going to affect anything?’ added Rahimi, a bronze medalist in the featherweight division at the Commonwealth Games last year.
‘People grow up wanting to go to the Olympics and it’s all that they work towards, and all that they want to achieve. That would be taking away someone’s dream.
‘I stand by all the French girls…. It’s really, really unfortunate.’
Hélène Bâ, a basketball player, told Amnesty International the ban ‘is a clear violation of the Olympic charter, values and provisions, and an infringement on our fundamental rights and freedoms’.
She said: ‘I think it’s going to be a shameful moment for France.’
Source link
