France doubles down on its hijab ban ahead of the Paris Olympic Games

This week, French authorities and the International Olympic Committee faced backlash from human rights organisations after re-affirming the hijab ban for French athletes during the Paris summer games. In a new report published on July 16, Amnesty International pointed out the official Olympic Charter says, “the practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have access to the practice of sport, without discrimination of any kind in respect of internationally recognised human rights within the remit of the Olympic Movement.”

Amnesty then went on to point out the hypocrisy of these words, due to the fact that the IOC-backed French authorities are still implementing the hijab ban. “The French authorities made it emphatically and unashamedly clear however that their proclaimed efforts at improving gender equality and inclusivity in sports do not apply to one group of women and girls,” continued the charity. “Those Muslim women and girls who wear religious head coverings.”

The lengthy report then goes on to outline what it calls the “discriminatory practices” of French authorities and how they violate the human rights of Muslim women and girls in the country. “Amnesty International believes that when the world will be watching its athletes compete for medals and exercising their right to practice sport without discrimination, it should also cast a critical eye on the Olympics host country, which does not apply Olympic values to everyone,” it continued.

The hijab ban was initially announced in September 2023. France’s sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera told TV channel France 3 that “representatives of our delegations, in our French teams, will not wear the headscarf” which would ensure “the prohibition of any type of proselytising and the absolute neutrality of the public service.” Athletes from other countries are not subjected to the ban, but still have to adhere to rules from their respective federations.

The United Nations strongly criticised the ban at the time, saying that “restrictions on expressions of religions or beliefs, such as attire choices, are only acceptable under really specific circumstances [...] that address legitimate concerns of public safety, public order, or public health or morals in a necessary and proportionate fashion.”

Though the IOC went on to confirm that athletes from other countries could wear the hijab in the Olympic Village, it did not challenge the French authorities imposing the ban on its own athletes, saying that “freedom of religion is interpreted in many different ways by different states.”

Anna Błuś, Amnesty’s women’s rights researcher in Europe has also said that “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.” As well as this, a number of human rights officials including the chair of the UN Human Rights Committee recently wrote an open letter to the IOC asking them to overturn the ruling, a decision it did not choose to make.