IOC urged to help overturn France's hijab ban

Sports and quality authorities organisations person called connected International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach to thief overturn a prohibition connected French athletes wearing nan hijab.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced successful September that athletes would beryllium free to deterioration a hijab successful nan Paris 2024 Olympic Games athletes' colony without immoderate restriction.

However, French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera has barred French athletes wearing nan hijab astatine nan Games, saying they must respect nan country's strict separation of belief and state.

French citizens are free to definitive immoderate belief customs and symbols but it is stipulated that authorities and nationalist institutions - nan Olympics falling into that class - should beryllium expressly free of them.

Amnesty International and 10 different groups person signed a missive to Bach, saying nan prohibition goes against nan Olympic Charter.

"The hijab bans successful sports person resulted successful galore Muslim athletes being discriminated against, invisibilised, excluded and humiliated, causing trauma and societal isolation," nan missive continued.

"Therefore, we telephone connected nan IOC, arsenic Leader of nan Olympic Movement, usage your sizeable leverage successful beforehand of Paris 2024 to publically telephone connected French sporting authorities to overturn each bans connected athletes wearing nan hijab successful France – astatine each levels of sport.

"This important measurement would guarantee nan Olympics and Paralympics time off a existent bequest towards gender equality successful France by ensuring each women and girls tin person their correct to non-discrimination respected and protected, and their correct to participate successful sports guaranteed."

The stance has been criticised by immoderate world bodies, however, nan prohibition carries sizeable support successful France.

"It is simply a analyzable and very, very delicate issue," Sebastien Maillard, an subordinate chap astatine deliberation vessel Chatham House who has reported connected French authorities and nine during his career, told nan BBC recently.

"In nan United Kingdom belief is displayed rather comfortably, whereas successful Paris it is often seen arsenic thing much provocative."