This is not the first time that the debate on the wearing of the veil in sport has emerged in France, particularly in the aftermath of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Federations and clubs have been asking the question for several years, but today, the hijab ban was ruled “discriminatory” by UN experts, who are now calling for the decision to be reversed, reports The Parisian.
Three UN special rapporteurs, as well as the Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls, decreed, in a statement released on Monday, that “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”.
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For them, the decisions of the French football and basketball federations to exclude players wearing the hijab from competitions are “disproportionate and discriminatory”. They also attack the government's decision to prevent French athletes wearing the hijab from representing France during the Paris Olympics, believing that these measures “violate their rights to freely manifest their identity, religion or belief in private and in public”.
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A “context of intolerance”
In fact, sportswomen selected for the French team were not authorized to wear the veil during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Ministry of Sports announced in a press release in June 2024 that “during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the wearing of signs or outfits of a religious nature is prohibited for members of the French team in application of the principle of neutrality” and in the name of respect for the principle of “secularism”.
For independent UN experts, who are mandated by the Human Rights Council and who do not speak on behalf of the organization, “state neutrality and secularism are not legitimate grounds for imposing restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief”. The latter conclude by recalling the “context of intolerance and strong stigmatization towards women and girls choosing to wear the hijab”enjoining France to take “all measures at its disposal to protect them, ensure their rights and promote equality and mutual respect for cultural diversity”.
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