According to IRNA’s Monday report, Tina Rahimi, the first Muslim female boxer to represent Australia at the Olympics, wearing long sleeves and a hijab, protested in a social media post against the ban on a French athlete due to wearing a headscarf.
Ahead of the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, French sprinter Sounkamba Sylla was at risk of being removed from the French convoy for wearing a headscarf. However, in the last moments, she was allowed to cover her hair with a hat and she was accepted to participate in the French caravan parade.
Rahimi wrote, “You shouldn’t have to choose between your beliefs/religion or your sport. This is what the French athletes are forced to do. No matter how you look or dress, what your ethnicity is or what religion you follow. We all come together to achieve that one dream. To compete and to win. No one should be excluded. Discrimination is not welcome in sport, specifically in the Olympics and what it stands for.”
France's hijab ban only applies to French athletes attending the Olympics and it does not apply to visitors to the Games. The ban also applies to sports including football, basketball, volleyball, and boxing, and covers all levels of competitions, including amateur competitions.
In June, a coalition, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, wrote a letter to the International Olympic Committee condemning the ban and calling for the committee’s intervention.
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