The Senate of France on February 18 supported the bill on the ban on religious symbols, including a Muslim scarf, at all sports competitions. For the final entry into force, the bill still requires the approval of the lower house of the parliament.
The adoption of the document caused accusations of discrimination by various activists.
In France, there is currently a ban on wearing a scarf in educational institutions and public places.
Salimata Silla – 27 -year -old French basketball capture of Muslim origin, which is hijab. In January 2022, she was forbidden to participate in the national championships of France due to the fact that she wears the head coating. In 2023, the athlete founded the Ball.her league, in which women who wear hijabs are allowed to participate in sports.
February 23, a basketball event was held in the suburbs of Paris Romenville, one of the organizers of which was the Ball.her League.
The correspondent of Anadola found out the opinion of some of the participants in the event prohibiting the wearing of shawls at sports competitions.
According to the 20-year-old French basketball player Fatu Aydar, because of the introduced ban after five years of training, she had to stop training in her club.
“I left, because I was forbidden to wear a scarf at competitions. The only option that we were offered was to take it or not to play (in basketball). Therefore, I accepted not to play and continue to wear a hijab,” the athlete said.
According to Aydara, thanks to the Ball.her league, women with head scarves and without them can be engaged in basketball.
The interlocutor of the agency believes that the bill adopted by the Senate of France is aimed at preventing women who wear hijab to engage in their favorite sports.
The founder of Ball.her Salimat Silla said that she has played basketball from the age of 16. She began to get carried away with this sport at the age of 1.
The basketball player called the bill “absurd”, which provides for a ban on wearing head scarves in sports.
“I just live by basketball, my friends are basketball players, my environment and my family members are interested in basketball. If I take my basketball, I will have little left,” she said.
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Salimata expressed the hope that the bill still would not be adopted completely since it is “completely discriminatory.” “We have the right to choose a religion, we have the right to choose a sport, and this does not concern anyone,” she stressed.
According to her, the aforementioned bill also causes serious damage to an atmosphere of multiculturalism in France. “The differences between us make up our strength. That is why we are proud that we are French. But now I am ashamed to be a Frenchwoman,” she summed up.
In 2004, a ban on wearing shawls for primary and secondary schools was introduced in France.
The Law on the prohibition of wearing Islamic head scarves and other religious symbols in French public schools entered into force on September 2, 2004.