Hijab ban hampers French Muslim athletes for Paris 2024

On the eve of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Amnesty International (AI) has published a report entitled “We Can’t Breathe Anymore. Even Sports, We Can’t Do Them Anymore,” which criticizes the ban on French female athletes competing in sports headscarves.

The ban, imposed by the host country’s authorities, is seen as a violation of international human rights law. Hélène Bâ, a player for the French basketball team, declared that it is “a clear violation of the Olympic Charter, values ​​and provisions, and an infringement of fundamental rights and freedoms.”

The impact on Muslim sportswomen

Amnesty International describes the devastating consequences of this discriminatory act for Muslim women and girls in French sport. Such restrictions not only hinder their participation in sporting activities, but also their fundamental rights to freedom of expression and health.

“The ban on French athletes wearing headscarves at the Olympic and Paralympic Games makes a farce of the claim that Paris 2024 will be the first Olympic Games with equal opportunities for men and women. It also exposes the racist gender discrimination that underpins access to sport in France,” said Anna Błuś, women’s rights researcher in Europe at Amnesty International.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been criticised for its inadequate response to a joint letter calling for the bans to be lifted, saying that “freedom of religion is interpreted in many different ways by different states”. The IOC’s response failed to mention other rights that were violated by the ban, such as “freedom of expression and access to health care”, Amnesty argued.

France is the only country in Europe to have adopted a ban on religious headgear in several sports, excluding Muslim women from football, basketball and volleyball. This not only harms their physical and mental well-being, but also contrasts with the dress codes of other international sports organisations such as the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the International Football Federation (FIFA) and the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB).

A walk of shame

The harrowing testimonies of Muslim sportswomen, such as Hélène Bâ, who has been banned from participating in a basketball competition since October 2023, show the impact of this discriminatory policy that France is implementing. “It is also hard mentally, because you really feel excluded… Especially when you sit on the bench and the referee tells you to go to the ladders (stands). Everyone sees you… it is a walk of shame,” she lamented.

Founé Diawara, co-president of the football collective «Les Hijabeuses», concluded her testimony with the statement: «Our fight is not political or religious, but about our human right to participate in sport. No policy maker should dictate what a woman can or cannot wear, and no woman should be forced to choose between the sport she loves and her religion, cultural identity or beliefs».

Amnesty International is calling on the French authorities, sports federations and the IOC to take immediate action and lift all bans on headscarf-wearing athletes, to make sport more inclusive and accessible to all, regardless of religion or culture.