PARIS, July 25 — The French government and Olympics officials are seeking a creative solution to allow Muslim French sprinter Sounkamba Sylla to wear her hijab at the opening ceremony while still complying with the country’s secularism laws, they said yesterday.
Thousands of athletes, including some who wear the hijab, are arriving for the Paris Olympics, placing an international spotlight on tensions in France over national identity and perceived discrimination against Muslims.
Sylla, part of France’s 400m relay team, wrote on Instagram on Monday that her hijab — a head covering worn by many Muslim women — would prevent her from appearing in Friday’s blockbuster opening ceremony along the Seine.
“You are selected for the Olympic Games, organised in your country, but you can’t take part in the opening ceremony because you wear a scarf on your head,” Sylla posted on her account.
She did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
France, home to Europe’s largest Muslim minority, enforces laws to protect the principle of secularism, under which state employees and school pupils are banned from wearing religious symbols and clothing in public institutions. Rights groups ay these rules effectively discriminate against Muslims.
Eager to avoid an embarrassing domestic flap with the entire world watching, French government and Olympics officials said they are willing to find a solution for Sylla, although it remains unclear what that could be.
“Our citizens expect us to follow these principles of secularism, but we also need to be inventive about solutions to make everyone feel good,” Amelia Oudea-Castera, minister for sport and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, said yesterday, adding that Sylla “understands our principles, our rules”.
Foreign athletes are not affected by the secularism rules.
David Lappartient, president of the French Olympic Committee, said the French Olympic team is “taking part in a public service mission and in this respect it is obliged to observe secularism”.
He acknowledged the French approach “is sometimes incomprehensible in other countries”, but said there was still time to find solutions before the gala.
Numerous French sporting authorities have banned women from wearing religious head coverings, such as in football, basketball, judo and boxing, according to Human Rights Watch.
The International Olympic Committee does not have rules against wearing religious head coverings.
Maria Hurtado, spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, criticised the French government in September last year over its stance on the hijab for French athletes during the Olympic Games, saying: “No one should impose on a woman what she needs to wear, or not wear.”
The Le Parisien newspaper reported Sylla might participate in the Olympics opening ceremony wearing a cap.
— Reuters
