UN Experts Slam France’s Hijab Ban in Sports as Discriminatory

"The decisions of the French football and basketball federations to exclude players wearing the hijab, including at the amateur level, as well as the decision of the French government to prevent French athletes wearing the hijab from representing the country at the Paris Olympic Games, are disproportionate and discriminatory, and violate their rights to freely manifest their identity, religion or belief in private and in public, and to participate in cultural life," said four special rapporteurs and the UN Working Group on discrimination against women and girls in a statement relayed by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The experts call for the repeal of this discriminatory measure, arguing that "the neutrality and secularism of the State are not legitimate grounds for imposing restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief. Any limitation on these freedoms must be proportionate, necessary to achieve one of the objectives set out in international law (security, public order and health, the rights of others), and justified by demonstrable facts, not by presumptions, assumptions or prejudices."

They also condemn the decision of the Council of State which confirmed in June 2023 this measure of the French Football Federation (FFF), stressing that it seems to "imply that any wearing of the hijab in the public space - a legitimate expression of an identity and a belief - is equivalent to a breach of public order." Considering that "Muslim women who wear the hijab must have equal rights to participate in cultural and sporting life, and to take part in all aspects of French society of which they are a part," the UN experts call on France to "reverse the discriminatory measures prohibiting women and girls who choose to wear the hijab from participating in sports, and ensure respect for its international human rights obligations."

"In a context of intolerance and strong stigmatization towards women and girls choosing to wear the hijab, France must take all measures at its disposal to protect them, ensure their rights and promote equality and mutual respect for cultural diversity," they concluded.