Muslim Groups Consider Legal Action Over France’s Olympic Hijab Ban

"Such decisions indicate that the French political spirit is in conflict not only with the Muslims of France, but also with all of Africa and the Muslim communities," said Moroccan thinker and intellectual Mohammad Talabi in an interview with Anadolu. According to him, the French political spirit is blind and this is reflected in the thinking of its president. Emmanuel Macron himself, he stressed, lacks political wisdom at the strategic and tactical levels, both domestically and internationally. "The negative impact of French decisions will affect the allegiance of the French people to their state, while protests are everywhere (in France)," observed the head of the Wasatyea (Moderation) Forum based in Morocco.

He accuses the French president of seeking to promote the general rise of the far-right bloc in Europe by adopting anti-democratic decisions. An attitude that "will end democracy (in France)," Talabi warned, assuring that his forum would oppose the decision to ban the hijab. Thus, he called on Muslim communities around the world to file a complaint with the competent courts against the French decisions targeting the Muslim community in France. He also called on French Muslims to seek legal and peaceful means to deal with the French decision. And he concluded: "We will see in the future what such extremism, practiced by France against Muslims, will provoke."

Invited to the set of Dimanche en politique on France 3, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, the French Minister of Sports, had stated that France remains committed to "a strict secularism regime." "This means the prohibition of any form of proselytism, the absolute neutrality of the public service," she had explained. The French minister recalled that the French position was based on a decision of the Council of State. In June, the supreme administrative court in France rejected the request of the Hijabeuses - a collective of Muslim players who were demanding the cancellation of Article 1 of the regulations of the French Football Federation (FFF) which has prohibited since 2016 the wearing of any "sign or outfit ostensibly manifesting a political, philosophical, religious or trade union affiliation."

Despite the French decision, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has authorized the wearing of the Islamic veil inside the athletes’ village during the Paris Olympics. "For the Olympic village, the IOC rules apply. There is no restriction on wearing the hijab or any other religious or cultural clothing," an IOC spokesman said. The Olympic village serves as a temporary residence for thousands of athletes during the Games and offers common spaces such as dining halls and recreational facilities.