French Muslim basketball player Diaba Konate expressed her disappointment at not being able to represent her country at the Paris Olympics due to her headscarf. Speaking at a press conference organized by rights groups, Konate highlighted how France’s policies are preventing her from playing for the national team despite her skills and desire to participate.
“It’s very frustrating to be excluded from representing my home country simply because of my religious identity,” said Konate, who has played for France’s national youth team and has a career in college basketball in the United States. She emphasized the need for inclusivity in sports, underscoring the discriminatory nature of the current policies.
The controversy revolves around France’s strict secularism rules, which ban athletes from wearing religious symbols during the Paris Olympics from July 26 to August 11. This ban prevents French women who wear headscarves from competing, extending beyond just the Olympics to soccer and basketball tournaments nationwide.
The Sport & Rights Alliance — which includes partners such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International — has called for an end to these discriminatory bans. In a letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the alliance urged the IOC to pressure French authorities to overturn all bans on athletes wearing the hijab. The letter, dated May 24, emphasized the need for the Olympics to leave a lasting legacy of dignity and equality.
France’s laws on secularism, aimed at maintaining state neutrality in religious matters while allowing citizens to practice their religion freely, prohibit “ostentatious” religious symbols in schools and for civil servants. These laws have led to inconsistencies in sports regulations, allowing headscarves in some sports but not in others. For instance, the French Basketball Federation has banned the hijab, despite the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) permitting it since 2017.
Timothee Gauthierot, a basketball coach and co-founder of the activist group Basket pour Toutes (Basketball for All), expressed concern about the impact of these bans on female athletes’ physical and mental health. He pointed out the hypocrisy in the regulations, noting that while basketball rules prohibit all religious symbols, they seem particularly aimed at the Muslim hijab.
“The girls are disgusted,” said Gauthierot. “Already some girls have stopped doing sport. It’s dramatic just weeks ahead of the Olympics, which are supposed to be popular games for everyone…There’s a paradox, a hypocrisy.” He noted that while there are Sikh players wearing turbans who continue to play, Muslim players wearing hijabs face bans.
The situation has prompted calls from activists and rights organizations for more inclusive sports policies, ensuring that all athletes, regardless of their religious attire, can participate and represent their countries on international platforms like the Olympics.