French athletes will not be allowed to wear headscarves during the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, the country's sports minister, Amelie Ouda-Castres, who is also in charge of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, announced. The minister appeared on France3 television on Sunday, where she expressed her opinion on the issue, saying that no French athlete or member of the French delegation would be allowed to wear a hijab or handkerchief.
"We agree with the recent decision of the judiciary, which the prime minister also clearly expressed, support for secularism in sports. This means banning all forms of preaching and neutrality in the public sector. This means that members of our delegation, on our sports teams, will not wear headscarves," she said.
The 2024 Summer Olympic Games will be held from July 26 to August 11 in the French capital, and many non-French athletes will wear the hijab because the International Olympic Committee disagrees with the French government. The IOC sees the scarf not as a religious symbol but as a cultural symbol. FIFA has also allowed female players to wear hijabs since 2014. This summer in New Zealand and Australia, Moroccan Noahila Benzina became the first player at the World Cup to wear a headscarf.
Les athlètes françaises ne pourront pas porter de hijab durant les JO 2024 qui se tiendront à Paris, a annoncé dimanche la ministre des Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, dans une interview à France 3. "Les représentants de nos délégations..... A lire sur #Netalkolemedia pic.twitter.com/hI3nxmn8fh
— NetAlKole Media (@netalkole) September 25, 2023
In France itself in 2016, a group of female footballers known as Les Hijabeuses went to court against the decision of the French Football Federation (FFF) to ban the headscarf, but in June the Council of State rejected the appeal and approved the ban. The wearing of the hijab, which covers the hair but not the face, is not illegal in France but is prohibited in some contexts, such as in schools or government offices, and some argue that it violates secular principles. The ban on women wearing the hijab at the Olympics sparked a wave of anger online, with many using social media platforms to call for a boycott of the event.
French athletes will not be allowed to wear the headscarf during the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, the country's sports minister has said.https://t.co/nkGQtAhaNq
— 5Pillars (@5Pillarsuk) September 25, 2023
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"We will have to boycott the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Does the law apply to foreign athletes as well?! If so, then American Ibtihaj Mohammed couldn't compete for a medal," wrote one user. "There is no respect for women's rights and even less for the rights of migrants. We must boycott countries that violate women's rights," Adam said in response to the interview. "Leave them alone, seriously. The sport has to ignore it, the scarf doesn't interfere with the sport so let them leave it and that's it. You always look for problems when you don't," another person commented.
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