Australian boxer Tina Rahimi has criticised France's hijab ban, which prevents French athletes from wearing headscarves while participating in certain sports at the Olympics.
Rahimi is the first female Muslim boxer to represent Australia at the Olympics. The 28-year-old, hailing from Bankstown in south-west Sydney, competes wearing long sleeves and a hijab beneath her protective headgear.
“Women have the right to choose how they want to dress,” Rahimi, who took part in the Paris 2024 opening ceremony on Friday, wrote in a post on Instagram. “With or without hijab. I choose to wear the hijab as a part of my religion and I am proud to do so.”
“You shouldn’t have to choose between your beliefs/religion or your sport,” added Rahimi. “This is what the French athletes are forced to do.”
View this post on Instagram
France’s hijab ban is only applicable to French athletes participating in the Games and does not affect visiting competitors. The ban extends to sports such as football, basketball, volleyball, and boxing, and includes all levels of competition, from amateur to professional events.
“No matter how you look or dress, what your ethnicity is or what religion you follow,” Rahimi said in her post. “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.”
In June, a coalition of groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International wrote to the International Olympic Committee condemning the ban and urging IOC intervention.
“The bans imposed by the French sports authorities are discriminatory and prevent Muslim athletes who decide to wear the hijab from exercising their human right to play sport without discrimination of any kind,” the letter said. “The bans also fly in the face of the human rights requirements for host countries and the IOC Strategic Framework on Human Rights, as well as being antithetical to the fundamental principles of Olympism.”
Prior to the opening ceremony, French sprinter Sounkamba Sylla was at risk of being unable to participate due to her headscarf. However, a last-minute compromise was reached, allowing Sylla to cover her hair with a cap, enabling her to join the ceremony.
France has a long history of attempting to regulate or ban the wearing of religious items, politically justified in the name of laïcité (secularism).
Rahimi will make her Olympic debut on Friday in the women’s featherweight division. She won bronze for Australia at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and is the reigning Pacific Games champion.
