France’s hijab ban in sport is ‘discriminatory’, UN experts say

Sportswomen selected for the French team were not authorized to wear the veil during the Olympics and Paralympics, in the name of respecting the principle of “secularism”.

The ban on the hijab in sport in France is “discriminatory and must be reversed”asked several independent United Nations experts on Monday October 28. “Muslim girls and women who wear the hijab must have equal rights to participate in cultural and sporting life, and to take part in all aspects of the French society of which they are a part”said three special rapporteurs and the Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls in a statement. In France, some sports allow the wearing of the veil, others do not.

UN experts are mandated by the Human Rights Council, but do not speak on behalf of the organization. According to them, the decisions of the French football and basketball federations to exclude players wearing the hijab from competitions, including at the amateur level, as well as the government’s decision to prevent French athletes wearing hijabs from representing the country during the Paris Olympic Games, are “disproportionate and discriminatory”. They believe that these measures “violate their rights to freely manifest their identity, religion or belief in private and public, and to take part in cultural life.”

Sportswomen selected for the French team were not authorized to wear the veil during the Olympics and Paralympics, in the name of respecting the principle of “secularism”. This ban did not concern sportswomen from foreign delegations. But for UN experts, who indicate that they have communicated with the French government about this situation, “the neutrality and secularism of the State are not legitimate grounds for imposing restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief”.