In France, dissatisfaction is growing due to the ban on the authorities to wear a hijab athletes included in the Olympic team of the country, at the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris.
The correspondent of Anadolu talked about this topic with the French basketball player of Muslim origin Salimata Silla, who also wears hijab.
“It is very sad and humiliating to see that we were born in a country that rejects us,” she said.
26-year-old basketball player, nicknamed “Sali” since January, was banned from participating in official competitions due to wearing a Muslim head coating.
According to her, she has been engaged in basketball from the age of 11, and the ban on participating in competitions, primarily in such a grandiose as the Olympics, extremely depressed her.
“they (the authorities – ed.) have always been against us to act,” Silla notes.
In France since 1905, the church and the state have been officially divided. The law prohibits civil servants openly wear religious symbols. And since 2004, a law has been in force on the wearing of symbols or clothing of religious affiliation in public schools, colleges and secondary schools.
In recent years, this ban began to extend to athletes, which caused disagreements in society. Many believe that this restriction will deprive women from the Muslim community, the possibility of active participation in various areas of public life, primarily in sports.
The Minister of Sports of France Ameli Udea-Castera on September 24 stated that representatives of French delegations and teams at the Olympic Games-2024 will be prohibited from wearing a hijab.
In the Human Rights Department, the UN has criticized this decision of the French authorities. “No one should impose on a woman what she should be worn or not of. In general, according to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, any state participating in the Convention, in this case, France is obliged to take all relevant measures to change any social or Cultural models based on the idea of inferiority or superiority of both sexes, ”said Maria Urtado, press secretary of the UN Human Rights Supreme Commissioner.